First year Ericka Larssen (center), an Industrial Engineering major, carries the ball during a drill while being guarded by fellow first years Cori VanKerkhove (left), a Nutrition Management major, and Avary Elias (right), a Marketing major.

Despite last season’s Empire 8 semifinals loss to the Stevens Institute of Technology, the RIT women’s lacrosse team hopes to achieve greater success this year. The team met several times during the end of winter quarter to improve their skills in hopes of winning the championship this time around. RIT, who placed fourth in the preseason coaches’ pool, ended last season 11-5 and averaged 14.62 goals scored per game and a 0.417 shot percentage.

A majority of the 2010 team remains, such as third year Industrial Engineering major Megan Henriksen, who achieved a season-high six ground balls against Elmira and earned the All-Empire 8 first team honors. Also returning are third year New Media Marketing major Rebecca Lampson, team leader assists, and second year Civil Engineering major Shelby Vakiener, rookie of the year and team leader in ground balls, goals, man-up goals and points. However, the team lost two essential players from their roster to graduation last spring: Danielle Previ, who was second in scoring and goals on the team during the season, and Elieen Hennigan, who achieved the record of most goals in a career at 140

Currently, the Tigers are 0-2 after a tough loss against York and Mary Washington. The Tigers, who managed to keep their opponents’ total goals to only 166 in the 2010 season, were down 11-0 by the half against York. Highlights of the game included Vakiener’s two goals and first year Graphic Design major, Eva D’Ignazio’s first career goal.

Despite the losses, the Tigers remain hopeful for the rest of the season. Their remaining schedule includes teams such as University of Rochester and conference teams like Alfred, Nazareth and Stevens. While the Tigers had past success against Alfred and Nazareth, victory over Stevens this upcoming season may prove to be a challenge.

At the time of writing the Lady Tigers had not yet played Buffalo State. The next chance to catch them in action is March 12 against SUNY Oneonta.