STANDISH, ME - The Saint Joseph's women's lacrosse team endured a frustrating season with a 2-6 mark in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) play and a 5-7 record overall last spring.
The Monks, which went 10-4-1 with a 7-1 record in conference contests a year ago, opened the 2011 campaign with three consecutive victories but proceeded to drop five straight games - the longest drought in the team's four-year history - with four of those setbacks coming at the hands of conference counterparts. Essentially, the losing streak resulted in the Monks missing the GNAC playoffs for the first time.
St. Joe's kicked off the 2011 campaign with a convincing 20-8 victory over University of Maine-Farmington at Deering Memorial Stadium on March 22nd. Senior attacker Alyssa Marchant (Wakefield, Mass.) tallied 13 points (10 goals, three assists) and 20 draw controls - both totals ranking as new program single-game records - and junior midfielder Amelia Santos (Beverly, Mass.) contributed four goals and three assists in the season opener.
The Monks hit the turf again two days later when the squad squared off against another non-conference opponent- Thomas College - at Deering. St. Joe's chased the Terriers by a 16-5 margin behind four Marchant markers and three scores from both Santos and junior midfielder Megan Cutter (Westbrook, Maine), while sophomore midfielder Emily Wight (Westbrook, Maine) scooped up an SJC single-game record 15 ground balls in the victory.
Saint Joseph's hosted Husson University at Deering on March 28th and recorded a 13-8 win over the Eagles to improve to 3-0 on the young season. Junior goalkeeper Taylor Allison (Pawtucket, R.I.) made 13 saves and while Marchant scored five times and freshman midfielder Cassie Diplock (Augusta, Maine) netted three markers in the triumph.
The Monks' winning ways came to a halt on March 30th when the Royal Blue fell to Simmons College, 17-14, in what was the 2011 conference opener for both clubs. Marchant led St. Joe's with six goals and Diplock added five tallies in the losing effort.
With the scoring output, Marchant became the second player in SJC program history to net 200 career points. With 205 points (178 goals, 27 assists) in 46 career games, Marchant joins former teammate Lauren Hagerman '10, who recorded 207 points (130 goals, 77 assists) in 39 contests.
St. Joe's went on to suffer another GNAC loss - a 16-13 setback to Mount Ida College on April 3rd - which meant the Monks had lost back to back conference games for just the second time in team history. Santos registered four goals and two assists and Diplock added three scores in the loss.
With two goals, Marchant became the Monks' career points leader against Lasell College on April 7th, but it's likely that the achievement rang hollow with the three-year team captain as the Lasers handed her team its third straight setback by a 13-6 score that day. Wight also scored twice in the losing effort.
Marchant's pair of goals gave her 209 points (187 goals, 27 assists) in 48 career games and pushed her past former teammate Lauren Hagerman '10, who netted 130 goals and a program-record 77 assists for 207 points in 39 games over three seasons, to become the program's all-time leader in points.
Up next was a conference matchup with Rivier College at Deering on April 9th and the Monks, who walloped the Raiders 19-8 last year, fell short yet again by a 15-9 margin to fall to 3-4 overall and 0-4 in GNAC play. Santos paced the Royal Blue with three goals while Marchant added two goals and an assist that night.
Saint Joseph's played at University of Southern Maine on April 12th and the script was familiar as the Monks fell, 14-8, for the fifth-straight game. St. Joe's outscored the Huskies, 5-4, in the second stanza but it wasn't enough as hosts' 10-3 advantage in the first half proved too much to overcome. Diplock led all scorers with four goals and added an assist while Santos registered two tallies and a pair of helpers that afternoon.
The winless drought finally came to an end on April 13th when St. Joe's defeated GNAC-rival Emmanuel College, 17-11, in Boston. Marchant carried the Monks offensively with 10 goals (a total which tied a career-high) off a team-record 24 shots while Cutter and Erika Waterhouse '13 (South Portland, Maine) scored two goals apiece in the SJC triumph.
Unfortunately, Saint Joseph's was unable to build much momentum off the victory as the team was hit with a 10-6 loss at the hands of two-time GNAC Champion Emerson College in Boston three days later. Although the defeat dropped the Monks to 4-6 overall and 1-5 in GNAC games, the team played well in what was the lowest combined scoring total in SJC program history. Also, the four-goal loss to the Lions was at the very least a moral victory as Emerson had trumped St. Joe's by a 94-35 combined score in the previous five meetings between the conference counterparts.
The 10 goals Emerson scored in the win over St. Joe's is the fewest the Monks have ever allowed in a loss.
The Royal Blue hosted Saint Joseph (CT) in a GNAC tilt at Deering on April 20th and managed to thump the Blue Jays by a 15-2 margin - the Monks' largest margin of victory of the season and most since the team defeated Pine Manor College 17-3 on March 20th, 2010. Marchant led all players with five goals and her fourth goal of the game was the 200th of her career. She is the only player in team history to reach the 200-goal mark and the second in GNAC history to reach the scoring plateau.
Also, the two goals allowed versus Saint Joseph (CT) were the fewest the Monks had given up since the team blanked Thomas College 18-0 on March 25th, 2009.
The Monks' solid play down the stretch came to an end when the squad traveled to Norwich University on April 23rd for a match against the eventual GNAC Champions. The Cadets, unfazed by the snowy conditions that day, led 14-3 at halftime and skated to a 24-5 victory over the visitors. Marchant and Wight accounted for most of the team's scoring with two goals apiece in the season-ending loss.
For Saint Joseph's, the 24 goals allowed tied a team record while the 19-goal deficit ranks as the largest in program history.
INDIVIDUALS:
- Marchant, the 2011 GNAC Offensive Player of the Year and three-time First Team All-GNAC selection, netted 50 goals and five assists with 44 ground balls, 44 draw controls and 17 caused turnovers as a senior and will certainly be missed next spring. She closed out her career owning 25 team records and ranks as the Monks' all-time leader in games (54), goals (203), points (231), shots (428), shots on goal (338), game-winners (10), man-up goals (8), free-position goals (24), free position shots (57), ground balls (182) and caused turnovers (56).
- Santos enjoyed another outstanding season with 22 goals, 21 assists, 18 ground balls and three caused turnovers.
- Freshman midfielder Anneka Adame (San Diego, Calif.) led all of NCAA Women's Lacrosse - all levels - with 6.67 draw controls per game and registered a team-record 80 draw controls last spring.
- Diplock showed flashes of things to come with a solid freshman season. She ranked second on the team with 26 goals and added five assists, 31 ground balls and 10 caused turnovers to her stat line as a rookie.
- Wight produced six ground balls and four assists offensively and scooped up 60 ground balls as a sophomore. She ranked second in the conference and ninth in NCAA DIII Women's Lacrosse with 5.0 ground balls per contest.
The 2011 women's lacrosse team experienced what could be described as "growing pains," last season. It should come as no surprise that a team featuring a youthful roster with seven freshmen, six sophomores, six juniors and just one senior - as the Monks did last year - would have an up and down season.
Head Coach Anna Gordon, who will be entering her third season as the Monks' clipboard carrier next spring, knows how to build a winner and, assuming the team can somehow compensate for the offense lost with Marchant's departure, the pieces are in place for the Monks to contend in the near future. Although the result of the 2011 campaign was disappointing, this team could develop quickly and be a surprise team in the GNAC next year.
