Wilkes Women’s Lacrosse is ready to get back on the field and enter a new era with their new additions to their coaching staff.

Taylor Drumheller was hired to become the sixth head coach in program history and brings extensive experience to the Colonels’ program with previous coaching experience at Juniata and Hendrix College.

Drumheller leads a young roster with 18 players heading into the Landmark Conference and a group that is excited to get things underway with their first game on Feb. 21. New opportunities are here at Wilkes and Drumheller preaches that for this season and getting the program in the right direction.

Setting standards and focus on a day to day basis is important for this young team as they will be competing hard every single day. “The consistency of our message, team standards being transparent with each other, and collaborative conversations”, Drumheller said.

Taylor Sparks, Chloe Bierfriend, and Dayvne Bonvie are some players to watch this season with their leadership and compete on the field.

“We have truly grown in many ways but two of the biggest that are seen are the improvement of our skills and the team environment,” Bierfriend said.

Our stick skills and lacrosse IQ have developed because we worked on the basics first instead of running headfirst onto levels we weren’t ready for.”

Sparks, who is their top point scorer returning is a player that will be relied on for scoring and creating offensive pressure. The Colonels welcomed four new players to their roster for their 2026 season campaign with two returning seniors and young talent too.

Drumheller touched on the biggest takeaways from the offseason and fall ball and what she expects from her team.

“Willingness to grow and learn, and move the program forward, focus on competing every rep, the little things mean a lot, and work ethic.”

The Colonels have an exciting team and are filled with energy heading into this season. Drumheller preaches the family atmosphere and that the team is all in for this campaign.

The Landmark Conference is full of talent across the board, but the Colonels have lots to offer despite being projected to finish last in Landmark play. Some ways to improve this season for the Colonels are limiting turnovers and getting off to hot starts to the game and not falling behind in games.

Winning the possession battle will be key in order to get as many chances as possible to get shots on the cage and test their opponents defenses.

Culture is changing quickly and players are buying into the commitment to become a better team this season. The 2025 season is a season in the past and the goal is to improve and get better.

The Colonels will play a mix of home and away games through the months of February and March before getting into Landmark Conference play.

The Colonels open up their conference slate of games against Juniata on March 21. The Colonels will begin their season at home against University of Pittsburgh Bradford on Feb. 21 from Schmidt Stadium.