By Alana Pelosi
One is a right-handed redhead, the other a left-handed platinum blonde. One was recruited to play defense on the women’s lacrosse team, the other did not decide to play at Hofstra until midway through her freshman year. While coach Abby Morgan describes sisters Alysse and Kailey Ruszkowski as being “totally opposite,” the sisters share a bond on the field that brings them together.
Alysse, a junior, came to Hofstra ready to play defense in the fall of 2005 and since then has started every game.
Her younger sister, Kailey, followed her to Hofstra a year later, but with no intentions of playing. As Kailey put it, “I didn’t want to play in college, but coming to the games here made me miss it.”
“She came to a couple practices just to film in the fall last year and came to me and said ‘I watched a couple practices and I think I can play at this level.'” Said Morgan.
At the time, Kailey was serving as the team manager and planning on playing club lacrosse, but lucky for her Coach Morgan gave her a shot. Morgan than told her if she would like to tryout, she could practice with the team for the rest of the season and redshirt.
Jittery in her first practice, Morgan described the more reserved sister as dropping balls and being nervous, “but you could tell on that day that she had talent.”
Since the start of this season, the freshman has made the most of her time in action. In making appearances in two games, she’s notched two assists and two goals, including the Pride’s first goal against Northwestern. When she scored her goals, her sister was right there cheering her on. As Alysse describes it, “I get just as much gratification seeing her do well as if I was doing well. We like seeing each other do well, and it’s not really a jealousy thing.”
In playing behind Alysse, who has led the team in caused turnovers since last year, one could feel pressure, yet it does not faze Kailey for a second. “Since we’re opposite positions and we’re going against each other hard in practice I don’t feel the pressure- instead it helps,” Kailey explained.
Not only do they differ on the field, but personality wise, too. As Kailey started to explain, “Alysse is more intense…” Alysse quickly finished her sentence “…and she’s more calm.”
In describing them, Coach Morgan said, “Alysse is very outspoken and loud and Kailey is a lot quieter and shy.”
Yet despite their differences, they still have a deep sibling connection that is prominent on the field. Just as they are often encouraging to each other, they can also be just as hard on one another. While they may be each other’s biggest fans, they are not about to hold back, as Alysse explained, “We both know each other’s weaknesses and in practice we can exploit them like another team would.”
Coach Morgan added, “When a ground ball goes down, usually it ends up with one of them on the ground, if not both.”
The girls’ parents, who live in Ronkonkoma, love the sisters being on the team together, catching every one of their games.
As for each other, they admittedly did not get along as well throughout high school and until Kailey joined the team.
While they confess that they would never be able to dorm together, today both Alysse and Kailey would not have it any other way. “It would be weird if she went to a different school, and we wouldn’t like it.” Said Alysse.
Like a protective older sister, Alysse continued, “When Kailey was looking at schools, my mom asked me if I would mind her coming to Hofstra, and I would rather have here than worrying about her somewhere else.”
The girls do not even want to think about the inevitable separation next year when Alysse graduates. Rather, they focus their attention on a championship.
In sharing similar goals for CAA and NCAA success, the sister will be right there supporting each other every step of the way. Along with their teammates, their next step will be on Friday, March 17, when the team travels to Ithaca to take on Cornell University.