MARQUETTE — The women’s lacrosse team at Northern Michigan University starts its fourth season with new head coach Lindsey LeMay, who was named in August.

The program’s only coach, Emilia Ward, took an assistant coach’s job at NCAA Division I Marquette University in Milwaukee, it was announced in July.

The team kicks off its season at noon today in the Superior Dome against McKendree, the first of three consecutive home matches this month. The others are at 7 p.m. Friday vs. Lewis and at noon on Sunday, Feb. 23, against Quincy.

NMU is set to return 14 players from 2019 while adding eight new members.

Eight states and New Zealand are represented among the 22 players. The international player is freshman midfielder Amber Hope of Cambridge.

Ten players come from Michigan, with three from Minnesota and two each from Colorado and Illinois and one apiece from Virginia, Maryland, Ohio and Wisconsin also represented.

The leading returnee is junior midfielder Graison Ringlever, who set all-time program standards with 42 goals and 49 points a year ago and was named All-GLIAC Honorable Mention for the second straight year. She led the GLIAC with 19 free position goals while establishing team highs of 75 draw controls and 26 ground balls.

NMU was 4-12 in 2019, advancing to the league quarterfinals as the No. 6 seed before falling at No. 3 McKendree 26-10. Following this first playoff berth in program history, the Wildcats have been picked to finish fourth for 2020 in the GLIAC preseason poll.