Standing in the way, however, is the toughest schedule in the country, one that features games against six of the top 10 teams in the pre-season
Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) poll. The Jeffs, who will begin their season as the number-two team in the country, will play nine of their 12 games against teams that are ranked entering the season. That stretch begins with a three-game stretch over spring break that includes games at two of the top 10 teams in the country, before a March 22 showdown at the defending national champions, the top-ranked College of New Jersey (TCNJ).
"After what happened last year, [Head Coach] Chris [Paradis] has worked really hard to give us the hardest possible schedule," said Co-captain Kristin Osborn '01. "I think we felt that last year we weren't challenged that much during the regular season, and that hurt us." What happened last year was an NCAA snub for the Jeffs, despite an 11-1 record and a top-three ranking throughout the season. With the bitter taste left over from last year's postseason fate, the Jeffs enter the 2001 season with something to prove.
Leading the charge is Osborn, a two-time First-Team All-American. After obliterating her own single-season school scoring records last year, Osborn was named the Lacrosse Magazine preseason player of the year and enters the season only 11 points behind Greta Green '96 for the school's all-time scoring record. Osborn, who averaged just under seven points per game as a junior, is only the first of Amherst's many offensive weapons. As a team, the Jeffs return most of a unit that averaged a school-record 17.3 goals-per-game last year.
Fellow First-Team All-American Sarah Scheessele '01 returns from a solid junior season that saw her put up 28 goals and 13 assists, good for second best on the team. Erin Beaumont '03 is also coming off a sensational season, after a freshman year that saw her score 22 goals and add 10 assists, including a nine-point effort in Amherst's 20-4 win over Springfield College.
Offensively, the squad will also look to Abby Ouimet '03 and Laura Schifter '03, both key contributors last year. Meg Martin '02, Mary Kate Allen '03 and newcomers Allison Aldrich '04 and Christine Ryan '04 round out one of the most potent offensive attacks in the country.
Defensively, Amherst, who lost only one defensive starter to graduation, should be even stronger, thanks to the duo of Co-captain Alison Kitay '01 and goalkeeper Jess Thaxton '01. Kitay, a Third-Team All-American in 2000, joins standout Cara Coscarelli '02 in the interior, with Thaxton and Brooke Diamond '03 giving Paradis a pair of battle-tested net-minders to choose from.
In the midfield, a deep and talented core of players also returns. Led by Osborn and flank midfielders Carrie Foster '02 and Molly O'Connor '03, Amherst will have tremendous speed on the outside, while Jackie Sargent '04 should see considerable time alongside Osborn.
"I think one of our biggest strengths is depth," said Osborn. "We have so many great athletes and a lot of great freshmen who can contribute a lot. The team also has a great chemistry, which I really think has been the key to our success the last couple of years."
The depth will be critical for the Jeffs, who return north after their spring break trip to play one of the toughest conference schedules in the country, including away dates at third-ranked Middlebury College and fourth-ranked Williams College, and a home match against eighth-ranked Bowdoin College. The road will not be an easy one for the Jeffs, but with such a deep and talented core returning from last year's 11-1 squad, the road could certainly be a long one, lasting well into the postseason, and ending up in Baltimore.