University of Rhode Island second-year midfielder on the women’s lacrosse team, Brinley Myers, has worked her way up to becoming the Rams’ top goal scorer in their inaugural season.

Myers, who knew she wanted to play lacrosse at the collegiate level since eighth grade, began playing with Tenacity Project out of California, a women-led lacrosse club that promotes play at a higher level.

While lacrosse isn’t a dominant sport in ‘The Golden State,’ as lacrosse state championships aren’t held, the same can’t be said for the opposite side of the country.

“I knew there was a high chance that I would be going to the East Coast, but when I stepped on Rhode Island’s campus and met the coaching staff, met [URI Head Coach] Jenna [Slowey], it just felt like home, and I knew I had to go here,” Myers said. “I thought the unique opportunity of building a program was something I couldn’t pass up, so I was just super excited.”

In her three seasons playing at San Ramon Valley High School, Myers learned the value of leadership and worked alongside longtime coach Mike Iorio.

“Mike Iorio had been coaching me from a very young age; elementary school, middle school till high school, and all those goals we had paid off,” Myers said. “We all had great chemistry, and I think being a captain my senior year was really helpful too. Just learning how to take girls under my wing and trying to keep that culture going.”

Although still an underclassman, Myers has played and started in every game this season for Rhody, tallying 41 goals and a team-leading 47 points. Her success has only increased as of late, with 16 goals in her last three games.

“I know what I need to do to help our team be successful, but it’s definitely all team effort,” Myers said. “I couldn’t do it without my teammates and my coaches. My coaches have high standards for me, so I know that I need to perform well each game, and they’ll tell me when I’m not, and they keep me in check.”

Slowey was brought into the program in December 2021 and has since made it her own, hiring assistant coaches and using all of last year to prepare her team for their first season.

“I feel like Jenna coined that season as a bulletproofing season where we just got stronger individually,” Myers said. “She coached us specifically toward our needs; since we had such small numbers, we could get really good one-on-one coaching. That first class, I think, is so crucial to the success of the program and just building what we want to have.”

As for the team’s performance in their inaugural season, the Rams are 6-7 overall and 2-5 in Atlantic 10 Conference play. With only three games remaining, Rhode Island sits in eighth place in the conference standings and has slim chances of making the A-10 Tournament, where only the top six teams compete.

“We’re very prepared, and we even have meetings just with our sophomore class about how to stay confident and composed because we’re getting thrown into situations and big games that we’ve never been in before,” Myers said.

URI’s next conference matchup will be on the road against George Mason University on Saturday at 11:30 a.m.

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