The College of Wooster women's lacrosse team's balance across the board has enabled the Fighting Scots to remain one of the top contenders for the North Coast Athletic Conference title on an annual basis. After three consecutive runner-up finishes, Wooster is looking to take that final leap this year and return to the top of the conference standings for the first time since 2009. With the season quickly approaching, Wooster's still fine tuning a blueprint for another hopeful successful spring.

"We've been outside for practice, but I'm still trying to work out groups I think work well together, holistic groups from one end to the other," shared Elizabeth Ford, Wooster's winningest coach, who enters year 17 with a 171-72-1 record. "We have some nice prospects. It's fairly evident we're going to have some new names and some young people in some of those positions, especially in the midfield. By youth, it can also be a sophomore or junior who hasn't had a lot of time. We're going to see them pop up on the roster."

Wooster's consistent balance throughout its core scorers of late has given the Scots a leg up in certain matchups. The wealth of success provides an added wrinkle when game-planning against the team, and something that is critical to continue this year. Wooster had seven players average at least 1.7 goals per game in 2021, four of whom have graduated. Seniors Caitlyn O'Connor and Syd Schuster return to the program after a year away, and the formidable veterans add instant credibility to the Scots' potential firepower.

"Caitlyn and Syd give us a little more strength out of their class," shared Ford. "There's a couple of people who are going to be a nice surprise. Some nice youth is fitting in there, whether it be a first-year or sophomore who has a little bit of time under her belt. I think this group is probably pretty balanced with some more players who can drive and a handful of unselfish players. It is going to be interested to see how that balance works for us."

Junior Jill Murray is the Scots' top returning scorer with 25 goals a season ago, while classmates Hannah Shaw and Britta Treu are the other returnees who scored at least 15 times in 2021. Sophomores Ciara O'Connor and Ann Venditti could step into more featured attacking roles, per Ford, while "some sneaky points" may come from sophomore Angelina Bolivar again. Other returnees at attack include junior Anna Truong and sophomore Kenzie Smith, while first-year Kenzie Morris "might make a note" and classmate Kaitlyn McBride "is pretty sneaky too," per Ford.

"We have players who can score," Ford summed up. "It is just a matter of how it all comes together."

An uptick of box runs, a strategy where several players come in and out based on if the team is on offense or defense, could be in store for Wooster in 2022 per Ford, due to "not having many holistic midfielders for that depth." The potential is there though for the Scots to be strong in the midfield, with the team "having a good amount of players at the position who can play either offense or defense very well," according to Ford.

Shaw projects to be the Scots' top returning midfielder, evidenced by seeing significant minutes on both ends of the field last year. The then-sophomore tracked down an astonishing 70 draw controls – the fourth-most in single-season program history – despite the team playing just 10 games, a total seven fewer than a normal allotment in the regular season.

"I think we'll keep Hannah in the center," shared Ford when shedding light on draw controls." Hannah has a good background on who she is playing against, especially for the schools with returnees there. Kenzie Morris could help us there too. Elsewhere, we have nice speed and aggression in the midfield."

Senior Tabitha Skornik-Hayes and junior Clare Leithauser are Wooster's two returning starters on defense, a unit which will see three new Scots slide into starting roles when the season opens at Transylvania University on February 26. Among the returnees, sophomore Molly Kershner is "looking good on the crease," per Ford, while senior Lillian Miller is "looking pretty nice defensively, so she might have a permanent role down there." Other first-years are showing strength defensively too, according to Ford.

"Tabitha and Clare both have a knack for what we are doing on defense," explained Ford. "The players filling in with them are grasping what they need from them and how to work around them. We talk a lot about understanding roles and how to play with each other. Clare and is groundball magnet and Tabitha likes to take risks."

Behind the defense is the goalkeeper, where senior CC Dent and first-year Maeve Burke are the leading contenders to start following the graduation of four-year standout Katie Shideler and Ford has "several options" there, including a second returnee in sophomore Alex Galbraith.

A large 11-member first-year class is part of this year's roster and that group has "come along really quickly" with the learning curve, per Ford.

Wooster plays three teams which made the NCAA Div. III Championships in 2022, including the opener against aforementioned Transylvania. Wooster's first home game takes place on Wednesday, March 2 at 6:30 p.m. against Otterbein University, while NCAC play starts on Saturday, March 26 at DePauw University.