The Harvard women’s lacrosse team’s quest for an Ivy League championship kicked off Tuesday afternoon with the Crimson’s first practice of the 2011 season.

After its young squad posted a fifth-place conference finish and an 8-7 overall record in 2010, Harvard has reason to be optimistic heading into the upcoming season.

But the Crimson’s road to the top of the conference will be a difficult one.

This season, Harvard is slated to go up against seven opponents ranked in Inside Lacrosse Magazine’s Women’s Top 20—No. 7 Virginia, No. 8 Penn, No. 12 Dartmouth, No. 14 Stanford, No. 17 Boston College, No. 18 Princeton, and No. 19 Johns Hopkins.

In fact, the Crimson will take on four ranked opponents in its first five matchups.

While last season’s squad went 0-4 against opponents that finished in the top 20, there is reason to believe that this year’s Harvard team will fare better.

For one, the Crimson returns 89 percent of its scoring, including its top four goal scorers—sophomores Jennifer VanderMeulen, Danielle Tetreault, and Micaela Cyr, and junior co-captain Melanie Baskind.

VanderMeulen led the pack, tallying a league-high 56 goals while finishing third in the nation in goals per game.

But this season, Harvard should add even more firepower to its offense thanks to the return of Jessica Halpern.

Halpern—the 2008 Ivy League Rookie of the Year—suffered a season-ending injury two games into the 2010 season. But Halpern is expected to be back in uniform for the Crimson’s opener at Stanford on Feb. 27.

In her first two seasons with Harvard, Halpern combined for 80 goals and 21 assists.