Sophomore midfielder Micaela Cyr and her classmates ready to take that next step.

The Harvard women’s lacrosse class of 2013 arrived on campus last fall with high expectations.

From game one, four players from Crimson coach Lisa Miller’s second recruiting class were featured in the starting lineup and were expected to put up numbers.

The group did not disappoint.

By the season’s end, the Harvard rookies combined for 112 of the Crimson’s 176 goals—good for 64 percent. Two Crimson freshmen picked up all-Ivy honors, while Jennifer VanderMeulen earned the Ivy League Rookie of the Year award.

But entering the 2011 season, expectations are even higher for Harvard’s class of 2013.

If the Crimson is to qualify for the Ivy League playoffs—something it fell one game short of doing in 2010—and to make a run at the conference title, it will need its sophomores to not only produce on the field, but also to step into new leadership roles.

“I think with the task that we were given freshman year, we stepped up to the challenge,” said VanderMeulen, who notched a league-leading 56 goals during her rookie campaign. “I think we’re ready to step up as leaders ourselves and take control.”

Part of taking on new leadership responsibilities has meant guiding the Crimson’s latest crop of 11 freshmen, helping them adjust to college lacrosse, and teaching them Harvard’s system.

“I think [the sophomores] are talking a lot more,” tri-captain Sam McMahon said. “In the huddles, they’ll say, ‘No, you’re supposed to be there’—they’ll cold call people.”

But according to junior tri-captain Melanie Baskind, the legacy left by the group has been almost as valuable as its words.

“The freshmen last year definitely set the example in terms of [showing that] everyone on this team is the same grade once you get on the field,” Baskind said. “If anything, it’s setting the tone for every class to come. I think the freshmen this year have certainly seen how that happened last year and the potential role that there is to play.”

And on the field, Harvard’s sophomores could be even more dangerous than a season ago.

VanderMeulen, a 5’8” lefty attacker, spent the summer and preseason developing her right hand in anticipation of new defensive strategies that she expects opposing coaches to throw at her.

“[Being left-handed] was definitely to my advantage last year because people generally didn’t know me, so I could go left every time,” VanderMeulen said. “I’ve definitely been working a lot on my right hand.”

But even with her improved skill set, VanderMeulen understands that she might not be able to post 56 goals again this season, given the expected return of junior attacker Jess Halpern, who suffered a season-ending knee injury a year ago, and the addition of talented freshman attacker Jenn Leffew.