As the Battlefield varsity and junior varsity girls lacrosse teams exited their practice field late Monday afternoon, brown become the new purple and laughs the new black.

One by one, they trudged up the hill toward the parking lot, some stopping for pictures others opening the trunks of their cars looking for fresh clothes.

Imagine if Woodstock had a lacrosse team in 1969. There was mud. Everywhere. On everyone.

Talk about pre-season bonding.

"They got down and dirty," said head coach Jenny Tran, herself sprinkled with a bit of gooey dirt over the red of her cheeks.

At the end of practice, the varsity girls began picking off their "little sister" on the JV team with chunks of mud. Pretty soon, it turned into all-out warfare, complete with pre-requisite screams of glee and hugs of joy.

Yet this year's varsity squad is not one to mess around on game day. Battlefield''s already amassed two scrimmage wins by scores of 22-2 and 9-7, showing that the Bobcats can hang against tough opponents like the venerable Woodson and capitalize on less talented groups like they did last year.

When the season kicks off Friday, Battlefield, the defending district and regional runner-up to Loudoun Valley, will have its first shot at redemption playing host to Broad Run. The Spartans defeated the visiting Bobcats 16-12 last season in BHS's maiden trip to the state quarterfinals.

Despite losing five seniors including three starters, Tran's confidence in the 2010 team is palpable. She wants another crack at states and, this time, a couple wins over powerhouse Loudoun Valley along the way.

"Last year, our biggest challenge was our stick work," she said.

This year, the program led largely with a strong crop of girls from the Class of 2011 have improved their ball-handling skills, added speed to the mid-field and are executing transitions up to par.

Standouts from the state team like Morgan Clark, Sara Jacobson, Kim Esteban, Allie Rash and goal keeper Caitlin Hester are all back while sophomores Mary Margaret McCaleb and Nadia Naja each have another year under their belts after strong freshmen seasons.

McCaleb's turned out to be so strong, in fact, that she won a spot on the all-district first team. Tran described Naja's performance as a "360" from last season as she's turned into a solid defensive player.

Rash, who Tran described as "naturally athletic," as a junior is being recruited by George Washington University and Hester's received interest from Ohio State University and James Madison University. In fact, Tran's George Mason University lax teammate Meg Dentler coaches at JMU. Tran graduated GMU in '08, Dentler in '05.

Most of the varsity team played for three club teams in the off-season, which is something new for the Battlefield program. By playing on travel teams, the Bobcats have gained even more on-the-road experience and may finally be able to give Loudoun Valley a run for the district and regional title.

"I think our team is stronger this year," said Tran. "(We're) continuing where we left off."