By: Nathan Kuhta

As the snow slowly melts, Holy Family University looks forward to the beginning of its Men’s and Women’s lacrosse seasons. The two teams hope to build on the 2025 season, which brought improvement to both programs. The Women’s team opens up on February 22nd, against Southern Connecticut State University at Tiger Field, with the Men’s team opening at home as well against Davis & Elkins College on February 14th. 

Looking into your Lady Tigers’ season, the team saw improvement last year in Coach Annie Dombrowski’s first season, going 5-4 in conference and making an appearance in the CACC tournament. “Coach Dombrowski has brought a lot of energy and accountability; she pushes us to work hard and play our best every day,” said Senior Captain Taina Harkins (Humanities, 27). Despite this, the team finished 6-10 overall and had a first-round exit in the tournament. 

As the season quickly approaches, the anticipation continues to build. Harkins said, “I think we are all really excited about the season. Everyone has been giving their all at practice every day, so it feels good to go into the season prepared.” The team has been regulars in the CACC tournament, having secured a spot every year since 2021. However, a tournament win still eludes them, with a record of 0-5 in those games. “During the off-season, we really focused on fundamentals and consistency. We are playing faster as a team than we were last year,” Harkins added. 

Focusing on the Men’s Lacrosse season, the overall theme is to continue to improve. This upcoming season will be just the third season for the team since being added as a varsity sport at the school back in 2024. In their first year as a program, the team struggled, going 2-13 overall and failing to secure a win in conference (0-8). “It was definitely tough starting a program from nothing and trying to get it going,” said head men’s lacrosse coach Noah Morris. However, last season, with another year of development and recruiting, the team saw massive improvements, going from 2-13 in 2024 to 9-7 in 2025. “Having more guys than that first year, we had 16 guys on the roster, so we were very limited on what we could do at practice,” said Morris. The team was able to bring in 21 players on top of the original 16 athletes for the 2025 season. “We had some guys that had experience from the previous year that were able to demonstrate how quicker the game is from the high school or club level,” Morris added. Despite the success, the team went just 3-5 in conference and didn’t appear in the CACC tournament. These are goals the team hopes to reach in 2026, backed by another year of recruiting and development. “We are still a very young team. We aren’t trying to put too much pressure on our guys, but seeing that big jump in year two, we now wanna be a lot more competitive,” said Morris. 

Before his time at HFU, Morris spent 11 seasons coaching at his alma mater, Stockton. During his tenure, he helped the team to a 135-49 record, including two Colonial States Athletic Conference (CSAC) Championships, as well as a pair of NCAA Tournament victories. On top of that, he worked as a goalie coach at The Goalie School for three years. 

Both teams have plenty of new talent; however, they still have returning players holding down the reins as well. The previously quoted Harkins has been a standout athlete for the HFU lacrosse teams, racking up 35 goals, 29 assists, and 64 points over the 2024 and 2025 seasons across 34 games and 31 starts. As a senior, Harkins is currently staring down the start of her last college lacrosse season. “Going into my senior season feels surreal. It flew by, but I’m grateful to be playing my last season here at Holy Family,” said Harkins.

For the Men’s side, they look forward to seeing growth in standout Sophomore Jake Feeney. Feeney ended his freshman campaign with 38 goals, 35 assists, and 73 points, starting 12 of the 16 games for the Tigers. His efforts were rewarded with a CACC Rookie of the Year award and all CACC 2nd team honors. As both the men’s and women’s lacrosse seasons kick off, you may find yourself wondering how you can support your Tigers throughout the spring. All the games, locations, and start times are listed on the HFU Athletics Website, with many games having online streaming options as well. Feel free to go and support your fellow tigers as they look to take a jump forward in 2026!

Nathan Kuhta is a senior at Holy Family University that is majoring in Secondary English Education. He plans on teaching and coaching baseball at the High School level upon his graduation.