Wheeling, W. Va. - During the 2025 season, the Wheeling University Women's Lacrosse team is making a comeback after a five-year hiatus. When former Wheeling University Women's Lacrosse player Jessie Tufnell first made her way on campus back in the fall of 2013, the program was in a very similar situation, being in just its second year of existence. Using her strong background in lacrosse, Tufnell made an impact right away and made memories on and off the field that she will never forget.
"I just feel like Wheeling Athletics has such a unique culture as in everybody very much knows everybody," said Tufnell. "We kind of felt like our sport was kind of like our sorority or our fraternity in some kind of way. Tim Florence was an awesome addition to [the Women's Lacrosse program] and he really bonded us together. It was fun getting to see those girls come from soccer or something like that and come and play lacrosse at a college level."
Lacrosse has always been a big part of Tufnell's life for as long as she can remember. Growing up in the New England area, it was a sport that many of the girls went to after playing soccer in the fall. During her eighth-grade year, her family moved to Flower Mound, Texas and Tufnell took the love of Lacrosse with her. When making the move, Tufnell's parents wanted to make sure that Lacrosse was still an option for her, and they found a home as Tufnell played her high school Lacrosse at Coppell High School. The school had a rich Lacrosse tradition, with the Men's team winning three state championships, and Tufnell and her teams would continue that winning tradition.
She would fit right into the culture, earning several different accolades throughout her career. She and her teammates helped lead the team to a State Championship during her sophomore year in 2010 and she would take home several individual honors as well. She was named Rookie of the Year in 2009 and by the end of her career was an All-State player in 2012 and finished her career in the top five of scoring in the program's history.
"There were nine of us in my class that grew up playing from eighth grade to our senior year and we were a powerhouse," said Tufnell. "We were very good, and everyone was so impressive. We had one girl who was trying to go to Wooster, another girl who played at Arkansas, everyone was so talented and built everyone up. We won the states the same year as the boys did and it was in Dallas so that was fun because that's where we all grew up."
While playing at such a high-profile high school program, Tufnell wasn't sure that college lacrosse would be in the cards for her. It was a flyer she saw after taking the SAT's that taught her about a school that was over 1,100 miles away in Wheeling University, and she took a shot. She emailed former Wheeling Head Women's Lacrosse coach Tim Florence about an opportunity with a newer program in Wheeling Women's Lacrosse and a connection was born.
"I emailed the coach, and I said that I am kind of interested in playing at the college level and he said you need to join the NCAA recruiting site and make it official first," said Tufnell. "Then they came and watched me play and said yes, we want you to come. Tim is a very personable guy and loves the sport of lacrosse. After watching me play he was like what do we need to do to get you to Wheeling and that was a very attractive offer."
When she got to campus, it was the location and the lacrosse that drew her in and made her choose Wheeling as her home. However, it was quite a culture shock for Tufnell, going from a high school team with such a high pedigree to a brand-new college program. During her freshman year, the team was still growing and learning the sport, and Tufnell was thrust into a leadership role right away.
"It was definitely intimidating, I remember trying to coach people and do all of those things as a freshman and sometimes it is not received very well," said Tufnell. "But thankfully I think the team backed behind me and valued my experience. It definitely gave me the confidence to go out there when we were playing and allowed me to take charge, which I believe helped me get my captain role my sophomore year."
During her freshman year, the team would go 5-13 overall and 3-5 in MEC play, but Tufnell would lead them on the field. She finished the year leading the team with 43 goals, 15 assists, and 58 points, earning Second Team All-Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) honors. Tufnell and the team would continue to improve each year and joined the Mountain East Conference (MEC) in 2015. Tufnell had won back-to-back Second Team All-GLIAC honors and continued that success into her junior season, when she was named the MEC's Offensive Player of the Year.
However, it was 2016 that would end up being the breakout year for the program as they finished with the best mark in program history at 12-6 and a perfect 6-0 in MEC play. They won the MEC regular season title for the first time in program history and made the MEC Tournament as the #1 seed. They would earn a 17-6 win over West Virginia Wesleyan in the semifinal round and earned the opportunity to play Shepherd in the 2016 MEC Championship game. The Cardinals would fall short, but it helped build the winning tradition that would see the team win the first MEC Championship in program history that following season.
"Going from only having two girls on the offense to being able to transition and come up with plays where everyone is contributing was really beautiful," said Tufnell. "I remember the first time we came close to beating Shepherd I think that gave us the confidence to say we can do this. I don't think we ever expected to get there so fast, but we just had so much passion and we were so excited that it drove us to get to that point where we would be in that tournament."
While she was having success on the field, she was also balancing the heavy workload that comes with being a nursing major. While helping the Women's Lacrosse program grow, she was also working through clinicals and other coursework to earn her nursing degree. She thanks the Wheeling University Nursing program for their knowledge and guidance that have helped her in her field today. It was the balance that both the professors and her coach gave her that led her to the success he saw in the classroom and on the field.
"I think playing at the Division II level was very helpful because they were big on the student first and then athlete," said Tufnell. "Tim [Florence] was super forgiving when I had clinicals and things I couldn't miss and on the flip side my professors were very forgiving when we had away games and I had to miss class. Playing at such a small school where everyone was kind of in the same boat as you really helped."
She graduated from Wheeling University in 2016 with her nursing degree and moved back to Waco, Texas. She initially got into coaching, serving as an assistant with the Baylor Women's Lacrosse team, but she says she quickly found out coaching wasn't for her. She stayed in Texas for about seven years before getting an opportunity close to Wheeling at UPMC Presbyterian Hospital in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was the relationships she built at Wheeling and the lessons she learned that helped her become a successful ER nurse today.
"I think being able to communicate with people and being able to create conversations was a big thing we were doing in our small class sizes that you wouldn't necessarily get in a 500-person lecture," said Tufnell. "Obviously, the steppingstones that the nursing program gave us to have a successful nursing career and just creating the relationships with friends that you get to continue enjoying for 10 plus years."
Now that the program is making its return for the 2025 season, Tufnell is excited to see Women's Lacrosse come back to prominence in Wheeling. When she graduated in 2016, Tufnell held, and still holds, several program records including career goals (206), Career shots (423), and Games Played (67). She is excited to see a new era of Women's Lacrosse begin, bringing back an opportunity for players in the area, and looks forward to seeing the program reach new heights once again.
"It was very heartbreaking to see the program go away with COVID," said Tufnell. "I knew some of the girls who were on the team at that time, and it was heart wrenching to see them lose their college career. I am very excited, and I think it is going to be great for Wheeling to see the program come back. The new coach looks like an intense person and hopefully she brings in some good players and gets the program back where we left it."
