ROCHESTER, N.Y. – The RIT women's soccer team opens the 2025 season on Friday (Aug. 29) against Grove City. Here are the top six things you need to know about the Tigers heading into the season.

LAST SEASON
RIT finished the 2024 regular season with an 8-5-4 overall record while finishing fifth in the Liberty League with a 4-3-2 conference record, earning a spot in the Liberty League Tournament for the seventh consecutive season.
 
Junior forward Elena Onodera, senior midfielder Jessie Gomez, and senior defender Abby Umbenhaur were First-Team All-Liberty League selections, while senior forward Olivia Harris made the second team, and defender Amber Flynn is a third-team selection. Gomez and Onodera were United Soccer Coaches All-Region Second-Team selections.

ONODERA'S GOT GAME
Now a senior, Onordera led the Tigers with a career-best 21 points (7 goals, 7 assists) in 2024 to climb up to 11th in the program record book, having tallied 45 points (17 goals, 11 assists) through three seasons at RIT.  

MASTERSON KEEPS IT CONSISTENT
Head coach Liz Masterson enters her 16th season at RIT. Coming into this season, Masterson has guided the Tigers to 140 wins and a .617 winning percentage over 15 years. The longest-tenured coach in the program's history, Masterson's teams have qualified for the Liberty League Tournament 12 times, advancing to the NCAA Division III Tournament on five occasions.

BETWEEN THE POSTS
Senior Emily Sanchez returns this season after starting all 18 games for the Tigers in 2024, recording a 1.17 goals against average and a .721 save percentage. Sanchez will compete for playing time with fellow goalkeepers Caitlyn Dinh, Avery Donnelly, and Ashton Anderson.  

EXPERIENCED DEFENDERS RETURN IN 2025
The backline will feature a few familiar faces, including seniors Jillian Antol, Roberta Moger, and Neena Damodaran. In 2024, Antol made 16 starts for the Tigers, helping the team finish the season with a 1.22 goals against average. 

Making 15 starts last season, Moger was credited with six assists, which was a career-high. 

NEWCOMERS
RIT welcomes seven additions to the roster in 2025. First-years Addison Odle, Sarah Tawaf, Bella Coccio, Dakota Franks, Elle Wong, and junior transfers Ashton Anderson and Lindsay Ford. Anderson comes to the Tigers via Tampa (Division II), as Ford competed at Sacred Heart (Division I).   
 
2025 SCHEDULE
After opening the season with a pair of home games against Grove City (Aug. 29) and Endicott (Aug. 30), the Tigers will travel to Wheaton, Ill., for a pair of neutral-site contests against Trine (Sept. 5) and Wisconsin-Eau Claire (Sept. 6).

RIT returns home for a midweek clash against St. John Fisher on Wednesday, Sept. 10.

Other non-conference matchups include a home game against Wooster (Sept. 13) and a road trip to Geneseo (Oct. 8).

Liberty League play begins on September 20 with an away match at Clarkson, followed by a home contest against William Smith on September 24.

The Tigers will face a full slate of Liberty League opponents throughout October, including home games against Vassar (Oct. 4), St. Lawrence (Oct. 18), and Skidmore (Nov. 1), and road trips to RPI (Sept. 27), Union (Oct. 11), Ithaca (Oct. 21), and Bard (Oct. 25).
 
Liberty League Tournament play begins November 4 with first-round games. The semifinals are Nov. 7, and the championship is Nov. 9 at the highest remaining seed.