The St. Michael’s College women’s lacrosse team ended their season with a 14-10 loss to Northeast-10 (NE-10) Conference rival Bryant University 14-10 on April 29.
In the process, the women, who ended their third straight winning campaign 8-6 overall with a 5-5 mark in the NE-10, missed out on a chance to earn a playoff berth. Only six teams make the NE-10 playoffs.
A win against Bryant would have put the Purple Knights in a tie for fifth place in the conference. Instead, the loss at Bryant put the team in a sixth place tie with St. Anselm’s College. Because St. Anselm defeated St. Michael’s in the regular season, it won the tiebreaker.
Season Recap
The team this year was driven by a high powered offense that, with 193 goals on the season, has shattered the previous team record of 163. Senior captain Noel Smith says most of this offensive success is due to the intensity level the women kept at practices.
Women's lacrosse first-year player Lauren Rizzotti battle with an opposing player during a game at Duffy Field.
(Michael DeGrandpre, photo)
“Practice really makes a difference in how we play,” Smith says. “We’ve kept a certain level of intensity all season, and it has really helped in making us more prepared for actual game scenarios.”
Head coach Carla Hesler says that the team tried to focus more on drills in practice that forced the offense to be patient and make good decisions.
She says that a lot of the drills the team concentrated were more defensive than offensive, limiting the space offered to players with the ball. This, she says, helped the offense in recognizing high and low risk situations in which to take a shot.
Smith says that the patience the offense learned from these drills was a key factor in winning. This year the team finished third overall in the NE-10 in causing turnovers per game with 9.36, while also ranking second in the NE-10 in goals against average with 10.07
The patience of the offense allowed the Purple Knights to increase their time of possession, resulting in an average of almost 10 shots per game more than their opponents. With an almost identical shooting percentage to their opponents’, these extra attempts helped St. Mike’s win games, Smith says.
Growing up
Hesler says that the team’s maturity also contributed to the women’s offensive success.
“This year’s team has a lot of playing experience, even among our first-years,” Hesler says. “That maturity allows them to handle the high pressure in practices and games.”
Hesler says that the first-year players in particular have brought a lot of versatility to the team. An example, Hesler says, is first-year players Kelly Fitzgerald and Amanda Pelley, who are capable of playing both midfield and defense with equal amounts of skill.
The versatility and intensity of this class of first-year players has helped to elevate the play of the entire team, according to Hesler.
“We also have a lot of speed on the team this year,” says Hesler. “This allows us to do very well in fast-break and numbers-up situations. It’s that speed in the midfield, along with better selective shooting, more possession time, and patience that has allowed us to score so often.”
Head coach Carla Hesler directs her team during a game at the Duffy Field.
(Michael DeGrandpre, photo)
Higher expectations
In a game against Stonehill College on April 22, the St. Michael’s offense was able to answer every point scored by Stonehill in regular play, forcing overtime, in which St. Michael’s lost 17-14.
Stonehill is the defending National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division II national Champion, and is currently the third ranked team in the latest Division II national rankings. Some team members say they see the game as a testament to what the team is capable of doing in the future.
Pamela Kunar, a sophomore attacker on the team, says she was pleased with the results of the game.
“I think that we put forth a good effort in [the Stonehill] game,” says sophomore Pamela Kunar.
Hesler says she shares Kunar’s sentiments.
“I think that after seeing our competition against Stonehill, people [were] looking at us as a serious contender that could win the NE-10,” Hesler says of the game.
Looking ahead
The team is graduating two seniors this year, captains Noel Smith and Kristen Palazzo. Palazzo finishes her career being ranked fifth on the program’s all-time scoring list with 127 points and second all-time in the assists category with 44.
“Our senior captains are going to be missed,” Hesler says. “Both were great leaders for this team; they are very passionate and always tried to lead by example.”
The other 19 members of the team, including 10 regular starters, will all be returning for next season.
Hesler says that next year’s team should be even better, since the players will return with more experience and the team will have to make minimal changes in their style of play. She hopes that the team will learn to be more consistent in their play next year, as some lulls in play this year contributed to the teams missing the playoffs.
Ultimately, Hesler says nothing definite can be said about records or playoff hopes for next season, because a lot depends on what happens to other teams during the off-season, but she says she expects her team to grow and improve consistently throughout the next year.
Please note that a new edition of the echo will not be updated until September.
Have a great summer and congratulations to the class of 2006.
Please forward any questions or comments to Jessie Palatucci
jpalatucci@smcvt.edu
or Ryan Dulude
rdulude@smcvt.edu
