Women’s Lacrosse Team Has Plenty Of Positives after Playoff Elimination to NJCAA No. 1 Ranked Team

The Genesee Community College women's lacrosse team knew it had an uphill battle in their region semifinal playoff contest against the National Junior College Athletic Association's top-ranked and reining  national championship team from Monroe, but that didn't spoil the success the team has made this season.

For starters, the team doubled its win-total from a season ago and earned a post-season berth. Although Genesee wasn't able to score on the nation's top team last season, the Cougars did score five goals against Monroe this season in its final two outings. Genesee also held Monroe at bay by not allowing more goals than in its meeting last season.

In the first of the two seasons that head coach Jeff Reyngoudt had an eligible transfer player from his aspiring program; NCAA Division-III Plattsburgh became the first beneficiary of the program's growth by signing Leah Herman.

The two-time, all-conference midfielder will receive a scholarship from the Cardinals and also captured the Cougar Award during her freshman season in an unsung hero role, while receiving her first Western New York Athletic Association Conference accolade in women's lacrosse last season.

Herman became one of five women's lacrosse WNYAC selections for this season along with teammates Molly Barden, Rachel Ladd, Kali Wright and Ashley Barclay.

The Cougars also placed two players on the all-region team in Barden and Ladd, and another pair in the NJCAA Region-III All-Tournament team in Ladd and Barclay.

In the semifinal Region-III playoff game against Monroe May 5, Ladd had a pair of goals with Barclay also netting a goal. Sara Zakes had a stellar performance with 19 saves from 47 shots on net.

"Sara (Zakes) played her best game of the season and I'm proud of the team's performance in Syracuse," Reyngoudt added.