For as long as anyone can remember, Ithaca has been a reliable pipeline for lacrosse players who want to continue competing in college. When it comes to Division I women’s lacrosse in particular, that pipeline has been fortified over the past six years with the likes of national champions Shea Baker (Boston College) and Alecia Nicholas (North Carolina) among the most noteworthy. One player from the Class of 2026 is getting set to join that growing list.
Taylor Kerber will stay in-state for the next chapter in her career at Le Moyne College. The Dolphins are one of the newer Division I programs, having moved up from Division II beginning in the 2023-24 school year. When Kerber visited the school, she was firmly bought into their vision of becoming a top-tier team.
“I think what really stood out to me was their coach’s willingness and want to get better,” Kerber said. “[Moving up] was kind of like an excuse to work harder and get better. Now that they’re Division I, it’s like, ‘Okay, now we can be the best of the best,’ and I think that was really motivating.”
Kerber’s commitment also entails a reunion with a fellow Little Red alum. Julia Blakeslee has spent the past three years at Le Moyne after graduating from Ithaca in 2023. She flourished this past spring as their draw control specialist and helped the Dolphins improve their record from 4-13 to 14-4. Their increased winning percentage of .543 was the highest in Division I. The Dolphins also made it all the way to the Northeast Conference (NEC) championship.
Kerber played alongside Blakeslee in 2023 as a freshman in high school, and she’s looking forward to doing it all over again in her first year of college lacrosse.
“I’m really excited,” Kerber said. “She was a great leader when I was a freshman, and it’s going to be the exact same role. She’s going to be a senior, and I’m going to be a freshman, so I’m sure her leadership is still there.”
Kerber and Blakeslee helped Ithaca win the Section IV Class B championship over Horseheads in their one season together. For the following three years, Kerber played her part in maintaining the Little Red’s place as the best team in the area as they won three more sectional titles. That level of sustained prosperity took plenty of hard work to achieve in Kerber’s eyes.
“[Head coach Kaitlyn] Hoffay imprinted into our brains that everything is earned,” Kerber said. “Just because you’re a senior, you don’t expect to play. Just because you score a lot of goals doesn’t mean you’re the best team player. I think learning how to be on a team, learning how to communicate, but also being the best that you can be are the best lessons that Hoffay taught me.”
Kerber plied her trade in the midfield, something that she wasn’t used to having played as a defender throughout her youth and modified careers. But when Hoffay moved her up the field, she transformed into a consistent scoring threat, averaging 16 goals through her final three seasons with the Little Red.
While Kerber will return to her defensive duties in college, she felt playing in a different position improved her athleticism, among other areas of her game.
“Getting up and down the field when I need to [on] goalie clears and stuff like that will hopefully translate well,” Kerber said. “I think learning dodges and learning how offenses move and what looks people are looking for kind of helps your defensive brain almost be like, ‘Okay, they’re doing a pass-and-pick-down now. This is how I know how to defend it because this is what was used to defend me.’”
Kerber joins the Dolphins at seemingly the perfect time. Not only are they on the ascendance given their recent success, but it’s their first season following their move up to D1 that they are eligible to compete in the NCAA Tournament. In order to make the big dance, they’ll have to win their conference, something they came tantalizingly close to accomplishing last year. Perhaps a player with a championship pedigree like Kerber’s can help get them over the hump.
“I think what I can bring is hard work and determination,” Kerber said. “I think Coach Hoffay and [assistant] coach Chuck [Little] really had that drilled into their team core values, and I think it’s the same at Le Moyne… I just hope to bring the same energy, same determination to get better and be the best that we can be.”
Four of Kerber’s fellow classmates will also continue playing lacrosse in college. Emma Bakos is staying the closest to home at Ithaca College, Natalie Wagenet also remains in-state at SUNY Brockport, Bay Aittama ventures to Johnson & Wales University in Rhode Island, and Skye Lee-Byrnes heads to Oberlin College in Ohio.
