Despite jumping out to an early lead, Pitt women’s lacrosse fell short to the defending national champions, No. 2 Boston College, losing 19-12 Saturday afternoon at Highmark Stadium.

With the spring season looming, Pitt’s youngest varsity team is preparing for its inaugural season. Panthers women’s lacrosse is aiming for early success in one of the deepest conferences in the NCAA.

Entering this season, Pitt women’s club lacrosse head coach Gary Neft figured his team wouldn’t be as good as last year’s. The man who has led the program for 18 seasons had good reason for thinking...