Senior attacker Jamie Wren-Jarvis will aim to build upon her 13 goals and 12 assists from last year.

The College of Wooster women's lacrosse team's balanced offensive attack led to a high level of success last year, both at the conference level and in the region. Not to be overshadowed was the Fighting Scots defense that ranked in the top third of the North Coast Athletic Conference in several key statistical categories. Veteran head coach Elizabeth Ford has numerous returning letterwinners in the fold at both ends of the field, while at the same time will be looking to re-tool having lost both an all-region attacker and a three-time all-region defender to graduation.

"We're always trying to be competitive within the conference and in the region," said Ford. "We're obviously excited with what we have returning, and our newcomers are coming along really quickly."

Senior Ellie Hudson-Heck, a three-time first-team all-region and all-conference honoree, headlines the offense. With 140 career goals to her credit entering 2016, the senior sits just outside of the top-10 in program history, and her contributions carry over to other aspects of the game, as she is amongst Wooster's leaders in groundballs, caused turnovers, and draw controls. In fact, Hudson-Heck was one of two players in the conference to rank in the top five in goals, groundballs, caused turnovers, and draw controls during the 2015 season, and could be an even bigger factor defensively as a senior.

"Ellie is probably the player everyone in the conference is looking to as the leader, as are we," commented Ford, when highlighting the returnees. "It's natural for her to play that way. Her role is to still take advantage of those opportunities out of the midfield. She's such a dynamic player."

Overall, Wooster had seven players score at least 20 goals last year, and four of those return to the field for the Scots this year.

Senior Abby Szlachta will look to complement Hudson-Heck as the Scots' one-two punch on the attack. Szlachta, a second-team all-conference selection as a junior, continued to showcase rapid improvement, contributing a career-best 34 goals.

Junior Heather Szymanski and sophomore Helena Enders also figure to factor in more prominently on the attack this year. The duo combined for 43 goals last year, and were two of the first options off of the bench. With the graduation of all-region honoree Shelby Stone and reliable attacker Ashley Parry, Szymanski and Enders both figure to be in the mix for starting roles.

Another returnee is senior Jamie Wren-Jarvis, who started in about half (eight) of the games last year, and is a candidate to take over the "X" position behind the goal, while Heather Honn and several first-years will also look to factor in on the attack and in the midfield. Additionally, Honn could potentially take a majority of the draw controls for the Scots.

Isabel Perman anchors the defensive group, and will enter her third season as the Scots' goalkeeper. Last year, Perman posted a 9.41 goals against average.

"Isabel has worked really hard on her goalkeeper game," added Ford. "She's taken pride to do the best for herself and the team in that position. She's a great vocal leader back there."

Outside of Perman, Wooster will look to Wynn Boehmcke to lead the way defensively. The rising junior had an explosive 2015, earning first-team all-region and all-conference certificates. She quickly became the standout on the defensive side of the field, with her aggressiveness resulting in 31 caused turnovers and 50 groundballs. As a unit, Wooster's defense held opponents to single-digit goals in seven contests last year.

The Scots, however, lost three-time all-region defender Molly Sennett to graduation, but Wooster does have numerous promising playmakers in the fold.

Rising sophomore Michaela Lawrence will look to continue to make large contributions both defensively and in transition in 2016. A starter from day one, Lawrence ranked on the top five on the team in groundballs (34), draw controls (23), and caused turnovers (11), while also contributing 10 goals and eight assists on offense.

Junior Averi Lassiter, who made nine starts last year, will look to help anchor down the defense, while sophomore Mara Sheban (22 groundballs) was a major contributor off of the bench, and could challenge for significant time again in 2016.

Wooster's non-conference portion of the schedule is highlighted by a pair of tilts against Div. II programs in Walsh University (March 2) and Ursuline College (March 24). The Scots also play three games in Oregon, including one against Linfield College, where Enders' sister serves as the head coach.

Another noteworthy non-conference tilt takes place on March 31, when Wooster welcomes 2015 NCAA Tournament participant Augustana (Ill.) College to John P. Papp Stadium.

Also of note, Hudson-Heck will square off against her sister when Wooster hosts Kenyon College April 2.

"Our schedule and the conference are both challenging. Everyone (in the NCAC) is battling for the top four. While we're young, we're athletic. We're definitely striving to be in the top four. Our out-of-conference schedule is just as tough," concluded Ford.