Women's Lax: CCBC Essex a Work in Progress

Julie Hofmann and Paige Orpin entered the 2012 season wondering if they still wanted to play lacrosse for CCBC Essex.

The sophomores were on a Knights team last year that went 0-12 and were outscored 223-79. Making matters worse was that CCBC Essex had just 13 players on its roster, which meant that most players had to play the whole game even as they were being beaten handily.

“It was hard to get through last season,” said Hofmann, a midfielder who played for Mercy in high school.

Follow Essex-Middle River Patch on Facebook and Twitter.

Despite those struggles, Hofmann and Orpin decided to return and help coach Kerri Loechner build the program. Loechner became coach in 2009 after the CCBC Essex did not field a women’s lacrosse team from 2006-2009.

The sophomores believe they may be rewarded for their decision this season after CCBC Essex opened its 2012 campaign with an 18-10 win over Notre Dame (Md.). The .

In the win, Hofmann scored six goals while Orpin () scored four goals and added an assist.

“It was a great feeling,” Orpin said. “After what we went through last season, we appreciated the win that much more. The players back from that team really came back motivated with hopes of avoiding a repeat of that year.”

Unlike four-year colleges, Loechner said the fortunes of a junior college could change dramatically one way or another due to the constant turnover of the roster. But, she added, turning CCBC Essex into a title contender has several challenges.

Among those challenges is competing in the MD JUCO, the conference that includes all of the state’s junior college programs. All of those programs, except CCBC Essex, are ranked in Lacrosse Magazine’s preseason Top 10 poll.

, which advanced to the NJCAA national title game last year, is ranked second followed by (third), (fifth) and Howard Community College (sixth).

“One of the biggest problems we had early on is just letting players know we have a program here,” Loechner said. “We’ve started to get the word out some this year.”

Loechner said she believes once more area players in lacrosse-rich Maryland are aware of CCBC Essex, the wins will come much like it does for .

This year, the Knights have 17 players on its roster, including Leanne Bittner (), a freshman goalie who transferred from Robert Morris. Bittner had seven saves in the win over Notre Dame.

“Leanne gives us a really quality player to anchor our defense,” Loechner said.

Orpin said she envisions a day when CCBC Essex’s women’s lacrosse program is on par with the men’s squad.

“We have great facilities, the field is outstanding and we have a great school here,” she said. “Once the wins start coming we’ll see better and better players wanting to give Essex a chance. Hopefully some of those wins can come this year.”

CCBC Essex returns to action at 7 p.m. on March 8 when it hosts Gwynedd-Mercy College.