By Alana Pelosi
Every game is played to win, but each season the final game can often be the most important. Sunday’s game against Drexel marked the end of the playing careers for six women lacrosse players and walking off the field, they got to savor the moment a little bit more with a victory. In the 18-10, the team capped off a 10-6 season with a strong turn around from last year.
While the end has indeed come, they are not all ready for it quite yet. Just as in another sport, these 30 young women are now sisters and some of them are looking forward to leaving home. “It hasn’t hit me. I’ve been playing since I was in fourth grade so I still need to figure out cope with it,” Lauren Whitcomb laughed.
Fellow senior captain Alysse Ruszkowski agreed, “I don’t think you’re ever ready for it to be done. You think the last day is far away and then it hits.”
Going into the game, there were no big plans or dramatic build up. “It was more that they wanted to enjoy it with their team,” said head coach Abby Morgan, “they really enjoyed each other’s company this year.”
Like many athletes, the players look to remain involved with the sport. Both Whitcomb and Ruszkowski are looking to be teachers and would love to coach on the side. Their teammate, Jacquelyn Hetzel, will head overseas to coach for the next year before returning to the states for graduate school. Morgan that their teammate, Lauren Eberling is studying sports science which could easily correlate to a career in lacrosse and she also predicted that Cat Thoreson would be in the working in the city after the many internships she’s had.
Both Whitcomb and Ruszkowski plan to catch a few games next year, and with Ruszkowski’s younger sister still on the field, it’s likely to be more than just a few. Alysse and her sister, Kailey, aren’t dealing with separation anxiety just yet, Ruszkowski admits that it will be weird not seeing each other as much.
To mark the end, Sunday was also senior day, an event that Whitcomb refused to acknowledge, where the players could celebrate with their family and teammates. While there were no tears walking off the field, the seniors came to a realization. “After last game it us that it was over. That’s the last time you’ll be walking on and off the field playing collegiately,” said Ruszkowski.
As sad of a scene as that may be, the seniors were nothing but thankful for the time they had at Hofstra. One of the things Whitcomb said she would miss most was the dance parties. A pregame ritual, before each game to get pumped up the girls did “stupid things in the locker room to make each other laugh” that Whitcomb described as hysterical.
The locker room wasn’t the only place for business, either. First and foremost they had the field. The 12 juniors may be able to lead their team next season, but this year they were not the ones cracking the whip. Come game day, Whitcomb, Ruszkowski and Jen Bach were there to make sure players did not get sloppy. Bach, who was injured all season stepped into a new role from the sideline. “Jen pretty much turned into a coach this year,” said Whitcomb, “she knows so much about the game and it was so beneficial to have her on the sideline and because she sees things no one else does.”
Next year the juniors will have big shoes to fill, but if they learned any thing this season, they should adapt easily. After all, the seniors led by example.