MARQUETTE, Mich. - Coming off the back of a program-first conference championship game appearance in 2023, the Northern Michigan University lacrosse team has its sights set on building off last season's success in 2024.

With plenty of returning firepower and new talent from the incoming class, the Wildcats are primed for another successful season.

The 'Cats have been selected to finish second in the GLIAC and have received one first-place vote per the 2024 GLIAC Women's Lacrosse Preseason Poll, as voted on by the coaches.

2024 Season Preview


2024 GLIAC Women's Lacrosse Coaches' Preseason Poll
1    Grand Valley State          9 (3)
2    Northern Michigan        7 (1)
3    Concordia St. Paul         5
4    Davenport                          3

Coaching Staff
Head coach Lindsey (LeMay) Majkrzak enters her fifth season as head coach for the 'Cats, and has already taken the program to new heights. In the 2023 season, LeMay earned the GLIAC Coach of the Year as she led the Wildcats to a program-high 11 wins with an overall record of 11-7, along with earning a program-first GLIAC Tournament win and a GLIAC Championship appearance. The Wildcats set multiple single-season NMU records, including the most wins (11), best-winning percentage (.612), most goals (232), assists (79), points (311), and draw controls (260). 

New to the fray is assistant coach Quinn Crandall, who spent the 2023 lacrosse season as the assistant coach at the College of Saint Benedict in St. Joseph, Minnesota. During the program's inaugural season, Crandall helped the Bennies to a 7-0 conference performance and an 11-3 overall record. CSB won the MWLC regular season title and went on to the conference title game before falling in the MWLC championship. Crandall helped coach six student-athletes to All-MWLC awards, including the Rookie of the Year. 

Roster Breakdown/ Key Returners
The Wildcats roster consists of 19 returners and 11 newcomers, broken down into five seniors, nine juniors, six sophomores, and 10 freshmen.

The 'Cats boast a handful of key returners, and maybe none more important than Minnie Bittell. Bittell rewrote the record books for the program during the 2023 season, as she became the program's all-time leader in career goals (147), assists (61), and points (208) after compiling 56 goals, 19 assists, and 75 points throughout this season, all single-season program records. A First-Team All-GLIAC and Spring 2023 GLIAC Commissioners Award recipient, Bittell also got it done in the classroom, earning a spot on the Academic Excellence Team in 2023 after a 4.0 GPA.

Other key returners include Kaitlyn Bridger, who returns after earning First-Team All-GLIAC Honors in 2023 where she was second on the team in goals (37), assists (11), and points (48), and Maddi Bast, who earned Second-Team All-GLIAC recognition last season after she was second on the team in FPG (12), and third in goals (33), points (37), and draw controls (36).

The Wildcats will be introducing 11 new faces with plenty of talent for the upcoming season. An All-American goalkeeper in 2022, Lauren Esposito joins the 'Cats after a successful career at Jackson High School. Along with earning First Team All-State Ohio honors, she was recognized as the Ohio All-Region Position Player of The Year, along with receiving First Team Ohio Region in 2022 and Second Team honors in 2023.

The lone transfer for the 'Cats, Laine Stanton, joins the Wildcats from Division II Anderson University in South Carolina. There, Stanton accumulated 22 goals, seven assists, 10 ground balls, and six caused turnovers.

2024 Schedule
The 'Cats open the 2024 slate with 11 non-conference matchups, starting with Aquinas at home on Saturday, February 10, and ending with Ashland on the road on Sunday, March 24. In that frame of 11 games, the first six matches will be played at home followed by the next five matches on the road.

From there, the 'Cats open conference play with a rematch of the 2023 GLIAC Championship game, squaring off against Grand Valley at home on Friday, April 5th. Much like the non-conference schedule, the GLIAC slate of games consists of three straight home games before finishing up with three straight road games, with the regular season concluding at Concordia-St. Paul on Saturday, April 27th.