The Vermont Women’s Lacrosse team wants to get faster, stronger and more skilled on the way to becoming America East champions. With the unveiling of the recruiting class of 2009, the Lady Lax Cats will do just that.

Head coach Jen Johnson, who revealed the class on April 6, said the class addressed needed depth at the midfield and also more size defensively.

“Our goal with this class was to add further depth to our midfield and more size in our defensive end,” Johnson said. “Not only is this group expected to contribute significantly on the field, but we feel that they will be great representatives of the program off the field as well.

These individuals possess outstanding character and will be great additions to our UVM family.”

Many from the incoming class hail from New England and the surrounding areas but also features Emily Allen of Memphis, the program’s first ever recruit from Tennessee.

Other members include Bri Connolly of North Andover, Mass., Grace Emerick of Monkton, Md., Taylor Hadcock of Londonderry, N.H., Jen Madsen of Guilderland, N.Y., Danielle O’Dwyer of Braintree, Mass. and Emma Kelly of Redding, Conn.

Though the girls will not arrive on campus until the fall, they have UVM’s lacrosse program excited for their potential contributions.