The majority of teams never willingly want to move down a division, but for the Cranston West girls’ lacrosse team, the move from Division I to Division II this season may be beneficial.

The Falcons didn’t see much success in D-I last season, compiling a 3-10 record due to the high level of competition. West head coach, Mike Soscia, is hoping that his team will find much more success in D-II this spring.

“It was a nice taste for a little while in D-I, but it was getting tough to compete,” Soscia said. “Some of those programs are producing two or three Division I players per year.”

West has already begun to feel at home in D-II, finding some success early, defeating Cranston East and Smithfield in injury fund games, before earning its first league win at Lincoln, 17-14, on Monday.

In that game, senior captain Tarah Okolowitcz netted 11 goals, the highest single-game total of any player at West under Soscia.

Okolowitcz will pace the offense and provide leadership, as well as other senior captains – Danae Carbone, Haley Nardolillo, Yvette Goudiaby and Jessica Storti.

Carbone and Nardolillo will assist Okolowitcz on the offensive end, while Goudiaby and Storti will provide some stability on defense.

Sophomore Grace Ohsberg will also be a key contributor on the offensive end for the Falcons.

In goal, sophomore Grace Luker has grabbed the starting role after playing junior varsity last season, and has stepped in nicely early on.

Rachael Beneduce, Kendall Majcher, Jolie Rouleau, Lucy Perelman and Madeline Souza are also expected to contribute and see time for West.

Overall, Soscia is feeling good about his team and is pleased with the way that his roster is constructed.

“We have a healthy mix of key players and role players this year,” Soscia said. “Those role players are filling areas where we needed help.”

Sitting at 1-1 in league play after its first pair of league games, West feels that its goal of making the playoffs is very attainable. It’s also hoping that, once it gets there, it can make some noise.

“I think we’ll fare very well in D-II,” Soscia said. “We want to make the playoffs, then we’ll go from there.”

The Falcons will look to move above .500 when they host Smithfield on Monday at 3:30 p.m. at Cranston Stadium.

So far, things are trending in the right direction, and the players are excited about the new opportunity that they’ve been presented with.

“No one likes to drop down a division, but I think that this will be a good learning curve for us,” Soscia said. “It’s a positive atmosphere right now and I think there will be good things to come.”