April 22, 2009

By Pete Spiewak '10

There were some people who felt that the Saint Joseph's women's lacrosse team had what it takes this season to make the Atlantic 10 Championship for the first time since 2001.

Chances are they all donned crimson and gray, though.

"I don't think that many teams in the league expected us to be here," said Suzy Herlihy, the senior goalkeeper for the Hawks. "We were 2-5 in the league the past few seasons in the A-10. From the outside looking in, there was a lot of uncertainty."

Jenna Martino, the team's leading scorer, agrees.

"Our team has made a huge turnaround," she said. "So many people never thought we could do it."

After achieving a 5-2 Atlantic 10 record and clinching a spot in the Conference Championship, the Hawks exceeded the expectations of many, but not their own.

"We knew all along that we could do it," said Herlihy, who holds the second lowest career goals against average in Saint Joseph's history, with 8.81.

The team is happy with reaching the Atlantic 10 Championship, but they are not content with just making the four-team field.

"We're ecstatic about being here," said Jenna Martino, "But we're not going to settle for just getting there. We're in it to win it."

Saint Joseph's has quickly become one of the top teams in the Atlantic 10. After losing many of its games last season by one goal, head coach Denise Roessler put the Hawks through some rigorous offseason conditioning in order to help the Hawks come out on top in those close games.

"We've been pushed so hard," said Martino. "Our entire team had to make a six-minute mile and none of us ever thought we could do that, and pretty much our entire team ended up doing it. The reason [Roessler] did that is because she wants to push us mentally and physically so that way this year when we got in those one-goal games, we were able to finish them out, unlike last year."

"I wanted them to do something that seemed out of reach, and achieve it, and then know that they can do anything that they put their minds to," said Roessler.

In order to be in the position that it is today, Saint Joseph's needed some spectacular individual performances.

Martino is having one of the best offensive seasons in Hawk history. The junior tallied 49 goals during the regular season, which is just two shy of the school single-season record, held by Shannon Feite (1996) and Bernadette Smith (2001).

"I try not to even think about [breaking those records]," said the junior from Oceanport, N.J., who has already tied the record for most shots in a season with 120. "I feel like one of my jobs on this team is to score, and by doing that, I'm only doing my part."

Martino will also have a chance to break the school's single-season points record. With 66, she is four behind Feite, who notched 70 assists in 1996.

"Jenna is a really special player," said head coach Denise Roessler. "She's taken it to a new level. She is a much more mature lacrosse player this year. She has much better game sense than she did last year, and it has really helped her lead the attack."

But it was not all about offense this season.

Herlihy and the rest of the defense were impressive, too.

The Saint Joseph's defense is fourth in the nation in caused turnovers, with 12.19 per game, and eighth in the nation in scoring defense, allowing 8.63 goals per game.

Abby Renninger has played a key part in the Hawks' strong defensive season--Saint Joseph's has only allowed 8.14 goals per game in Atlantic 10 play.

Renninger, a senior from Berwyn, Pa., and junior Rae Wojnar have each caused 22 turnovers this season, and Jontell Lyons has caused a team-leading 23.

Herlihy is the foundation of the Hawk defense. Her play allows for Hawk defenders, like Lyons, Renninger and Wojnar, to take risks because of how much they trust the goalkeeper that is playing behind them.

"We are able to run a very aggressive, high-pressured defense, that does allow teams to take shots," said Roessler. "But I know Suzy is going to save them--and that is why I run this type of defense."

In order to have a chance at winning the conference championship, the Hawks will have to overcome Richmond, who knocked off Saint Joseph's on Sunday, 12-5. But that loss just might have been the wake-up call that the Hawks needed.

"They haven't got to see who we really are," said Martino. "Now they might be expecting to run all over us, and we are going to come out and hopefully surprise them."