STANDISH, ME – The Saint Joseph's College field hockey team figures to improve upon a 2012 season that saw the Royal Blue go 9-8 overall and 5-4 in North Atlantic Conference (NAC) play.
Ninth-year Head Coach Rupert Lewis, the program's most successful skipper with an 85-60 (.586) career record, has higher expectations from this year's group, which features 13 returners, including 2012 leading scorer and All-Conference honoree Rachelle Messuri (Atkinson, N.H.).
Plenty of talent returns, but the 2013 squad is still quite young – a 19-player roster includes 13 freshmen and sophomores. Rapid development by the newcomers will be imperative for the Monks to reach their goal of a NAC Championship in the program's final season as a member of the conference. After five years in the NAC, the SJC field hockey program will move into the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC), the College's primary athletic conference in which 14 of Monks' other programs compete.
If the team is accomplish the objective of claiming its first-ever conference crown and subsequent NCAA Tournament berth, Saint Joseph's will do so with a well-balanced approach. Always strong defensively the Monks, buoyed by an athletic and skilled incoming group, could be potent in all facets of the game this fall.
Messuri leads the offense after pacing the Royal Blue with eight goals and 24 total points as a junior. All five of the Monks' top scorers return, as senior Carley Denis (Lewiston, Maine) and sophomore Amanda Celata (Dedham, Mass.) netted six goals apiece last fall while senior Theresa Hendrix (Scarborough, Maine/Cheverus) and Meghan Williams (Greenland, N.H./St. Thomas Aquinas) tallied three and two goals, respectively, in 2012.
Junior Effie Drew (Portland, Maine), a former Portland High School standout who played the last two years for Saint Mary's University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, along with first-years Kelsey Dumond (Lewiston, Maine) and Elizabeth O'Neal (Topsham, Maine), will be asked to bolster the St. Joe's offensive efforts and all three are likely to contribute immediately. Sophomores Allyson Allard (Parsonsfield, Maine), Chelsea Bordeau (Scarborough, Maine), Laura Toolin (Underhill, Vt.) and Brenna Fitzgibbon (Exeter, N.H.) also figure into the mix in a variety of capacities.
Defensively, the Monks will be led by junior Kaylee Heath (Pittston, Maine) and sophomore Kayla Royer (Greene, Maine) while junior Emily Jordan (Whitefield, Maine), sophomore Brooke Novakoski (Dunbarton, N.H.) and freshman Mikaela Gove (Scarborough, Maine) will also be asked to play prominent roles on the backline this fall. Heath, a heady player and two-year captain, is overdue for All-Conference recognition and Royer, a punishing defender in the mold of past SJC defenders Alyssa Dunn '11 and Brittany Locke '13, is an emerging talent and could surprise onlookers this fall with a breakout season.
Fans will notice a true youth movement in goal for the Monks this fall, as the youthful roster features a pair of freshmen keepers in Emma Astbury (Bridgewater, Vt.) and Mariah Farrell (Vassalboro, Maine). Both netminders, who bring athleticism and a competitive nature to the goalmouth, figure to share time this season.
Saint Joseph's opened the year with a thrilling 2-1 overtime victory over Eastern Connecticut State University on the road last Saturday. The Monks return to action with a non-conference contest at Anna Maria College – a future GNAC opponent – on Saturday at 5:00 PM.
Saint Joseph's College is Maine's only Catholic liberal arts college, providing a supportive, personalized and career-focused education for more than 100 years. From its 350-acre campus on the shores of Sebago Lake, the College offers more than 40 undergraduate programs to a population of approximately 1,000 students. Saint Joseph's College Online provides certificates, undergraduate and advanced degrees for working adults through an online learning program. For more, visit www.sjcme.edu.
