From the Desk of the Executive AD

It has been a very busy yet exciting first 60 days for me here at RIT! It has been fun watching our student-athletes come back to campus and compete with Tiger Pride. I would like to thank everyone who helped make my transition into my new position an easy one, and we are looking forward to a successful 2021-22 academic year.

Since I arrived, my priorities were to listen, learn, observe, and evaluate all components of our athletics program, the institution, and the community. As we begin the new year, we are working to establish strategic priorities for the department and have several projects on the horizon that we will be able to provide updates on soon. However, I first wanted to highlight some achievements from the spring semester and give a preview of what to expect for this fall.

2021 Men’s Lacrosse NCAA National Champions

The men’s lacrosse team won its first National Championship! Twelve members of the team landed All-America honors, including senior goalie Walker Hare who was named the national goalie of the year for the second-straight season. The team also won its ninth-consecutive Liberty League Championship.

Fall Sports

After not competing last fall due to the pandemic, I’m happy to report all our fall teams have returned to action! We would love to see our Tiger family out supporting our programs, so I look forward to seeing you at a game soon. Be sure to check out the composite athletics event calendar to see when and where all our teams will be competing.

Thank you for your tremendous support as we strive for EXCELLENCE! Without a doubt, our best days are ahead!

Women’s Soccer Coach Reflects on New Season

Happy fall season from RIT Women's Soccer! We are in the throes of the season and the student-athletes are well into their classes. Even though everyone has their heads down moving through the day to day, the level of reflection we all have on where we are and what we have the opportunity to do never escapes us.

We took our first away trip to Oneonta during opening weekend and had a chance to get our first- and second-years their very first overnight experience. The 90 minutes of the game went our way and we learned how to play after traveling, but more memorably, we returned to what we love.

The Friday night before the game, we boarded the bus after training and made the trip to Oneonta. The coaching staff struggled technologically with the TVs but were determined to play Ted Lasso for the team on the trip. The players were understandably skeptical of our taste in TV shows, but one episode in, and they were hooked. The bus trip flew by as we all became invested in Ted Lasso’s story and the story of the underdog team.

Arriving at the hotel, we split up into rooms and saw each other the next morning for breakfast in the lobby. Naturally, lots of the team were doing their homework early on. After breakfast, we headed out to the parking lot for our pregame jog and stretch. The routine was easy for our third-, fourth-, and fifth-year players who have all experienced this before, but it was all new for first- and second-year players.

With family and friends there to support the team (and give them delicious food after the game!), it was a return to everything we missed and waited for. The only difference is the daily gratitude and acknowledgement for how special it is to be a member of the RIT Women’s Soccer program. 

Liz Masterson, Women’s Soccer

Women’s Volleyball Team Stays Connected

Greetings from the RIT Women's Volleyball team! We are so excited for the 2021 season. Like everyone, the pandemic created unique circumstances for our program. While Zoom meetings became the new norm, Assistant Coach John Tuttle and I were impressed with our team commitment to maintaining a sense of remaining connected.

When we could finally start practicing again following the cancelled 2020 spring and 2020 fall seasons, we began by being spread out on our tennis courts with everyone utilizing their own volleyball before eventually progressing to playing on outdoor grass courts. The effort and enthusiasm that we exerted during our return toward regular play was fantastic. Eventually, we did get to have some indoor practices, although it didn't look much like the volleyball practices that we are all familiar with until a point in the middle of the spring semester.

This season, while we are disappointed to have missed coaching and being with the players who graduated without getting the opportunity to play their final seasons, we are a great blend of returning veterans and two classes of newcomers who are playing their first official matches as a Tiger. We are a very versatile group and the depth of our roster has already been tested. We have continued to practice and compete well despite a couple early injuries and have had a great start to the season. We are all excited with the potential of this group. It has also been a welcome sight to see many of the players’ families and numerous alumni and fans at our early matches. We look forward to seeing more of you throughout the season.

Please, let us know if you'll be near a court soon or on campus. We'd love to catch up. Go Tigers!

Jim Lodes, Women’s Volleyball

Tigers In The Crowd