The University of Rhode Island women’s lacrosse team debuted on Feb. 17, culminating years of preparation and anticipation.

“It certainly was a special week for us, to be able to actually finally play a game,” Rhode Island Director of Athletics Thorr Bjorn said.

First announced in December 2021, women’s lacrosse marks the 17th Division I program at the university. It is the first new team for URI since women’s rowing was added in 1996.

“The decision began back when Marc Parlange was first hired as our president,” Bjorn said. “One of the things I shared with him is that, ‘Our gender equity numbers aren’t where they really need to be in terms of participation opportunities, and that one way we can handle that is by considering adding a women’s sport.’”

After Parlange approved a pro forma that assessed the cost of implementing the new program, the process of building the team got underway.

“First thing we needed to do was hire a coach,” Bjorn said. “We found Jenna [Slowey], who really resonated with us as the type of person we were looking for that would be willing to undertake this challenge.”

Roster construction presented unique challenges for the coaching staff, according to Bjorn. Many players took a redshirt season last year while practicing and growing a culture as a team leading into their first season.

“You’re bringing in a bunch of women that aren’t going to play for a year,” Bjorn said. “That wasn’t for everybody, but they did a great job of identifying women that wanted to be part of this.”

URI Associate Athletic Director Brittney Miles worked closely with Slowey and other departments schoolwide over the years leading up to the inaugural game.

“There’s just a lot of people that were a huge part of this,” Bjorn said. “There’s just so many layers within the athletic world of our staff that really embraced it and got excited about it.”

Bjorn was unable to attend the team’s debut matchup against Merrimack in person as weather delayed the game from Feb. 16 to Feb. 17. URI took home a come-from-behind victory, scoring the game-winning goal with under a minute left to play in the fourth quarter.

“I just kept thinking this is going to be a pretty emotional day,” Bjorn said. “I got to watch the game on my phone, and needless to say, I am very thrilled.”

The Rams continued their momentum with an 18-1 win over Central Connecticut State University on Feb. 19.

Prior to being named director of athletics at URI in 2007, Bjorn helped bring men’s hockey back to the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 1996. Through that experience, he has an understanding of the time that it can take to build up a program.

“I didn’t expect this at all,” Bjorn said. “To start the year 2-0, that certainly wasn’t what I was expecting; hoping, of course. It’s just a great tribute to coach [Slowey], her staff and the players.”

Rhode Island’s undefeated season came to an end in a 13-12 loss against Rider University on Saturday. The Rams will continue their first road stretch of the season after a loss on Wednesday to Bryant University, taking on Fairleigh Dickinson University on Saturday.

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