TROY, N.Y. - Although it is not yet known when the team will compete, the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) women's soccer roster has been set for the 2020-21 academic year, head coach Bre Nasypany-Cicero has announced. The group of 30, which were recruited by Nasypany-Cicero and assistant coach Ellie McDougall, includes 10 first-year student-athletes and natives of a dozen different states. Thirteen different majors are being studied.

Below is information about the team makeup as well as notes about the team and individual student-athletes:

Class Years: 5 in Class of 2021 ... 10 in Class of 2022 ... 5 in Class of 2023 ... 10 in Class of 2024

Natives Of: California (3), Connecticut (2), Florida (1), Georgia (1), Maryland (1), New Hampshire (2), New Jersey (6), New York (7), Pennsylvania (1), Rhode Island (1), Texas (2) and Vermont (3)

Majoring In: Aeronautical Engineering (1), Architecture (2), Biology (1), Biomedical Engineering (9), Business and Management (1), Chemical Engineering (3), Civil Engineering (1), Computer Science (4), Design, Innovation, and Society (1), Industrial and Management Engineering (1), Information Technology and Web Science (2), Mechanical Engineering (3) and Undeclared Engineering (1)

• Team GPA in spring 2020 was 3.73 (28 student-athletes) ... Cumulative GPA was 3.35
• All members of the team are involved with community service initiatives, including Sole Survivors, which is an on-campus club formed by previous women's soccer student-athletes. Sole Survivors is a group that raises awareness about sexual assault through interactive art displays and works to decrease the stigma associated with sexual violence and support survivors.
• Junior Rhea Banerjee (Plainsboro, NJ / West Windsor-Plainsboro) is involved in student government, serving as an undergraduate council vice president, Class of 2022 treasurer and Class of 2022 senator.
• Erin and Gwen Barnes (Hooksett, NH / Londonderry) are sisters. Erin is a junior and Gwen is in her first year.
• Junior Ali Bisaccia (Williston, VT / Champlain Valley Union) also participates in the ROTC program at Rensselaer
• Senior MacKenzie Grenier (Warwick, RI / St. Mary Academy - Bay View) was a research assistant at MARS Bioimaging Ltd. in New Zealand, where she plans to return and pursue a Ph.D. in biology. In her five months there she had to quarantine for seven weeks, but when restrictions were lifted and COVID was eliminated from the country, she did a solo road trip around the North Island.
• Senior Michelle Lomoz (Oceanside, NY / Oceanside) is doing research on a new type of polymer called vitrimers.
• Junior Gigi Mecca's (Wallingford, CT / Choate Rosemary Hall) grandfather earned a Master's of Engineering from Rensselaer.
• Sophomore Simi Nambiar's (Larchmont, NY / Mamaroneck), an information technology and web science major, held an cyber security internship in NYC in 2019. Her brother played baseball at Yale (pitcher) and was drafted by the Oakland A's in 2019, while another brother played baseball at Amherst
• Junior Emma Skantze (Tampa, FL / Land O Lakes) was involved with international soccer (Gothia Cup) and handball (Partilie Cup) tournaments in Sweden
• Senior Olenka Soko (Fort Worth, TX / Byron Nelson) played for Team Peru in South American Women's U17 Tournament n Venezuela
• Junior Olivia Spector (Shamong, NJ / Seneca), who has traveled throughout the world (Argentina, Brazil, China, Japan, South Korea), is on the executive board of the National Society of Leadership and Success. She was a research intern at Caelum Biosciences and plans to pursue a Ph.D. in biology/biochemistry.
• Junior Whitney Wisnom (Hillsborough, CA / Design Tech.) was the Liberty League Rookie of the Year in 2018 and has earned All-League and All-Region in her first two seasons. One of her grandfathers was an Olympic-caliber skier at Dartmouth and the other captained the tennis team at Yale. Her mother swam collegiately and her father was a skier in college.
• Helen Worden (Burlington, VT / Burlington) is a first-year architecture major who interned at GVV Architects. She was on Good Morning America with her high school soccer team to discuss their #EqualPay Jersey campaign, which sold more than 5,000 jerseys.

On attending Rensselaer:
"I knew I wanted to play soccer for a college that valued an academic and athletic balance and after visiting many schools, I knew RPI would be the best fit for me." - Rhea Banerjee (July 2020)

"The combination of academics - a strong computer science program - and being able to play Division III soccer were what first caught my attention. I knew I wanted to go to school in the northeast and experience all four seasons, so New York was a good option for me. Ultimately, it was my overnight trip that finalized my decision. I fell in love with the campus and the team, and RPI had the best financial, academic and soccer combination among the schools I was considering." - Emma Skantze (August 2019)

Benefits of undergraduate community:
"As student-athletes at Rensselaer, we have many resources available for us to make sure we succeed both in the classroom and on the field. The undergraduate community is always willing to help one another in every way possible." - Rhea Banerjee (July 2020)

"There are many ways to get involved on campus and in the community, and there is a niche for everyone. Students' interests are widespread and diverse, and the clubs and organizations on campus reflect that. Also, students tend to be supportive rather than competitive, which creates a healthy, more relaxed learning environment." - Emma Skantze (August 2019)

note: The roster is as of September 3, 2020, and is subject to change.