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n Monday, March 9, Queens University took over the top spot in the weekly Nike/US Lacrosse Division II Women’s Top 20. It was the first-time in the program’s 17-year history that the Royals had ever claimed the No. 1 ranking in a national poll.

Three days later, the season was canceled due to the threat of the COVID-19 virus.

The incredible highs and lows of one team’s college season played out in a matter of days.

“This has been really hard because our team had such high expectations for this season,” said fourth-year head coach Clare Short. “I know how much this year meant to our team. This has hit our kids hard because this year felt different.”

Through the first month of the 2020 campaign, Queens appeared to be building on the momentum of its 2019 season, the best in the program’s history. The Royals posted a team-record 19 wins last year, including a 16-game winning streak, the longest in program history. They finished the season with a 19-3 record after advancing to the NCAA D-II national semifinals for the first time.

This spring’s 5-0 start, highlighted by an impressive come-from-behind road win at Florida Southern on March 2, offered the promise of another deep postseason run. The Royals were strong favorites to capture their seventh straight South Atlantic Conference championship and return to the NCAA championship tournament for the fourth time in five seasons.

Unfortunately, in the midst of their new No. 1 ranking on March 9, ominous clouds were also getting darker. It started with the cancellation of that Monday’s home game against No. 3 West Chester. The Pennsylvania-based school had already decided to suspend all non-essential travel, including for athletic teams.

Queens continued to move forward with practices, preparing for its next game on Saturday that it still believed could be played. The team was on the practice field Thursday afternoon, March 12, when the final edict was delivered.

“There had been tons of gossip and lots of rumors about what might be happening, so in the back of my mind, I knew this could be our last practice,” Short said. “I decided that we would scrimmage, which we don’t normally do two days before a game. But I wanted the players to simply play the game they love.”

Short’s phone brought the news she had hoped not to receive.

“I got a campus-wide email from our school president right at the end of practice announcing that classes had been suspended and all activities were canceled,” Short said. “I still had a glimpse of hope that perhaps there was a possibility of having an exception for athletics, but 20 minutes later, our AD confirmed that all athletics were also canceled.

“That was the toughest moment for me as a coach. I didn’t really know how to process the news.”

Following the athletic director’s confirmation, Short shared the final decision with her players, including the team’s eight seniors.

“There was a lot of silence, and some tears,” Short said. “Mostly, it was just shock.”

Queens suspended classes on Friday, March 13, and began online instruction for all students last week.

In the midst of the abrupt ending, Short and her staff hastily organized a farewell team dinner at a local restaurant on Friday night before everybody dispersed back to their hometowns. The 29 players represent nine different states.

“We put it all together in one day because mostly, we wanted to honor our seniors,” Short said. “It was a chance to have a final goodbye, but unlike other years, we weren’t leaving because of a win or a loss. This was so unexpected.”

At this point, many questions remain for players, coaches and administrators, including how the extra year of eligibility that the NCAA granted to all players will impact the future.

For Short, that’s still part of the future. Bringing some closure and understanding to the incredibly emotional swings of this unprecedented 2020 season is still the priority.

“This has been a hard time for us, but it’s no longer about how great we could have been as a team,” she said. “It has hit us that this is so much bigger than our sport and our team. This is affecting everyone.”