Cambridge Lacrosse Gears Up For Varsity

Last week The Tab brought you a shoot with Cambridge’s Netballers.

This week the focus is on three of Cambridge’s Lacrosse teams – the Women’s Blues, the Kingfishers and the Mixed side – as we bring you exclusive photos from their build-up to Varsity this Saturday.

The Women’s Blues, who are generally acknowledged as being one of the best Blues teams in the University, have enjoyed a spectacular – and unbeaten – season thus far. 10 wins from 10 have seen them scoop the BUCS Premier Women’s South league title with a stunning goal difference of 73 – almost 3 times that of second-placed Exeter. In the process they have already beaten Oxford’s 1sts twice, winning 10-4 and 10-6 at home and away. Comprehensive victories against Newcastle, Edinburgh and Durham (who earlier thrashed Oxford 13-2) have also allowed them to make serene progress to the final of the BUCS Cup, where they will face Birmingham next month.

Blues skipper Ellie Walshe, a veteran of last year’s Varsity victory, is confident her side can win again, commenting:

“We definitely have a strong enough team to beat Oxfor:d. I believe we are the best University Lacrosse side in the country at the moment and that we have what it takes to hold onto the Varsity trophy for a third successive year!”

Captain Ellie Walshe reclines in front of Cambridge’s lovely Lax Girls.

The Kingfishers, the Women’s second team, have had a more mixed season. A pair of wins over Oxford Brookes’ 1sts and a victory against Nottingham’s 1sts have been tempered somewhat by crushing defeats against Warwick 1sts. Like the Blues, the Kingfishers have also played their Oxford counterparts twice this season, winning one encounter 12-10 and losing the other 11-4, leaving it all to play for in Saturday’s match.

Leggy Kingfishers heart-throb Ellie Pithers had this to say in advance of the fixture “The Kingfishers have had a great run of form in recent weeks – we are quietly confident that we can channel our inner terriers in the style of Adi Drabble [Kingfishers Captain] and bosh the scum this Saturday!”

The girls show their lighter side in the lead-up to Varsity on Saturday.

Cambridge’s Mixed side are in action over the weekend as well. Speaking to The Tab, Mixed Captain Tristan Withers had only this to say: “Our club motto is ‘Beat the scum and then get horrendously drunk‘. It will happen. In that order.”

Withers leads by example as the Mixed Lax team show their ‘game faces’.

Meanwhile the Men’s Lacrosse team, the oldest university lacrosse team in the UK, are also looking forward to their Varsity clash on Saturday. They have had a great 2010 so far, notching up wins against Hitchin, Northampton, Portsmouth and UEA among others (the last a resounding 25-1 victory) and are looking good to avenge last year’s 13-3 defeat at the hands of Oxford.

The Tab will bring you coverage from this weekend’s Varsity Lacrosse fixtures, which are all taking place in Oxford on Saturday.