WASHINGTON — Five women’s lacrosse players have been suspended for reportedly threatening to physically hurt their freshmen teammates.
University of Maryland Baltimore County announced the suspensions, but did not provide specifics of why the students were suspended.
“Five women’s lacrosse players have been suspended from the team for violation of team rules. The Athletic Director and other University leaders are following all applicable policies and practices as we work to fully understand the situation and support our student athletes,” said Lisa Akchin, associate vice president, marketing and public relations for UMBC, in a statement.
The Associated Press identified the players as Mackenzie Reese, Alyssa Semones, Amber Kovalick, Meghan Milani and Brittany Marquess.
According to the blog Baltimore Post-Examiner, the five players engaged in a series of text messages on the GroupMe platform, under “Sophomores rule,” expressing hate for their first-year teammates.
The Post-Examiner said it obtained 16 pages of text screenshots.
While it is difficult to ascertain whether the posters were joking, or intended to follow through, texts included threats to “swipe that bitch’s head off,” “we need to kill her,” and “Take down the coaches. Kill the freshman.”
Quoting concerned parents, the Post-Examiner reported one of the team’s co-head coaches, Tony Giro, refused to attend a game against Drexel unless the administration removed the players accused of threatening the freshmen from the team.
Contacted by WTOP, Giro emailed: “Thank you for reaching out. At this time, we have no comment.”
A spokeswoman for Baltimore County Police Department referred calls about the investigation to the UMBC Police Department. Campus police did not immediately respond to requests for more information.
