Lindenwood University released an intimidating team photo yesterday. Sixty-one players, all clad in Lady Lions kit, stretched across the screen in three rows. One presumes that depth will not be an issue this year, as Lindenwood enters its first DI season as an independent.

“We know one of the areas we lacked last year was depth, and we took care of that going into this year," Lindenwood head coach Billy Nicholas said. "Our other area of concern was our strength of schedule, and we have addressed that as well going Independent for this year and providing ourselves some really competitive upcoming matches.”

The veterans, who are outnumbered by the newcomers, have the weighty task of managing this voluminous group, but can rely on multi-year starters like Amanda Divich, Morgan Crowell, Gio Cruz, Ariana Lewis, Davon Thomas, and Kim Shepherd, among others.

In between the veterans and freshmen are a handful of transfers who pump up the performance factor. Hannah Gauthreaux spent her first two years with Notre Dame College before transferring this fall, and she’ll add loads of pace and finishing power to the backline. Emma Knapp hails from DI Washington State, while Sara Gribble has moved from Sacramento State.

The freshmen class is 29-strong and was sourced from every corner of the country. The Class of 2019 ranges from national age-grade stars to walk-ons, including:

- Girls High School All Americans McKenzie Hawkins (Maryville, TN), who’s played for the Junior All Americans the previous two summers, and Morgan Courtney (Summit, CO), who spent the summer at the American Rugby Pro Training Center;

- 2015 Stars & Stripes attendees Carly McPolin (Gilroy, CA), Paulina Las (Summit, CO), Kailei Peters (Orem, UT), and Marquesa SueSue (Kahuku, HI);

- Standouts from regular High School National Championship teams, including Kassie Reynolds and Megan Dupree from Kent, WA; Taylor Bragg-Brock (Divine Savior Holy Angles, WI), Hope Nesbitt (North Bay, MD), and Liliana Trejo (Fallbrook, CA); and

- Neariah Persinger (Broken Arrow, OK), a regular on select sides like Atlantis 7s; Amanda Lenau (Hamburg, NY), arguably the fastest player in Upstate New York; and Reina Anderson (Brookfield, WI) and Sonetta Williams (Armstrong, MN), two of the Midwest’s highest-profile players.

The aforementioned are only a sampling of the exciting talent that has flocked to St. Charles, MO. Players hail from New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, Tennessee, Wisconsin, Illinois, California, Canada, Hawaii, Utah, Oklahoma, Texas, and Minnesota, and are fully represented below.

Lindenwood kicks off its fall season next weekend against DI Northern Iowa. During the next few months, the Lady Lions will play Indiana, Army, Penn State, UVA, North Carolina, Life University, and Iowa State.