There’s a new sport in Tigertown.

The inaugural Clemson women’s lacrosse team is gearing up for its home opener this Saturday against the Wofford Terriers. The game will take place at Historic Riggs Field, as will the rest of the team’s home games, while construction is underway for a new turf field.

Following the announcement of a new women’s lacrosse program in June 2021, the Tigers needed to build a roster. The transfer portal enabled them to formulate one that has experience and maturity, setting the roster up to gel as the season progresses.

Another factor that helped bring experience to the untested Tigers is that 11 of the 28 girls are graduate students with several years of collegiate play under their belt. Additionally, eight of them are freshmen and can soak in all of the advice that the others have to offer.

First-year head coach Allison Kwolek brings plenty of experience with her as well. Before Clemson, Kwolek coached at the University of Richmond since 2013 and held a .800 winning percentage (64-16) with the Spiders.

The Tigers appear to be in good hands, considering Kwolek’s previous success. Now coaching for the new program, fans will be eager to see if they can strike up the sort of success that Clemson’s novice softball program did in 2020.

But the newly-formed team will face a tough schedule that will put its talent to the test.

Later this season, the Tigers are set to face North Carolina and Syracuse, which have both earned top 5 spots in the Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Association preseason coaches poll. 

Other notable teams on the Tigers’ schedule include Duke, Virginia and Notre Dame, all of whom sit in the top 25 of the coach’s poll.

The debut for Clemson’s women’s lacrosse team will be against Wofford at home on Saturday at 3 p.m. EST.