Month: April 2015

Women’s Lacrosse Finishes Season with Win on Senior Day

Jaclyn MarrLeave a comment

On their final game of the season, the Jaspers honored their seniors in a great fashion by earning a 9-8 victory over Marist. Despite their 1-7 record in conference play, it was an important moment for them to hand Marist a loss before the Red Foxes go into the MAAC tournament.

“We struggled a lot this season,” Donna Jo DiNorcia said. “So to pull it all together defensively and offensively was a big thing, especially for the seniors. We proved to the coaches that we really could play with a good team.”

The Jaspers honored seniors Domenica O’Brey, Carly Cappello, DiNorcia, Kaleigh Howe and co-captains Christina Fiorinelli and Caitlin Hynes before their game Wednesday April 22. In net, Fiorinelli had a team-best 60 ground balls and DiNorcia had an impressive game after returning from an injury. She helped lead the Jaspers’ scoring with a hat trick.

“Coming off of an injury, I didn’t even expect to be on the field that long,” DiNorcia said. “Putting in the first goal was enough for me. It was just a great way to go out.”

Even though the team did not have a winning record this season, they have improved greatly over the last few years and they look toward the future to get even better. Junior co-captain Megan Yarusso said that winning on senior day was the team’s best achievement this season.

Still, They have strong numbers to be proud of this season. Yarusso led the team in goals and points with 34 and 45 respectively. Junior co-captain Kaitlyn Cunningham had a team-high 12 assists and seven players finished in double digits in scoring.

“Ending on a high note showed us and the coaches that we are good,” Yarusso said. “It showed that we could hang with or even beat good teams. Finally coming together as a whole was the cherry on top this season.”

Both DiNorcia and Yarusso said that the last few years on the team have been a growing experience and a learning process. After some coaching changes over the past few years, they have found who can help the team reach their goals. Head coach Elizabeth Weber and assistant coach Amanda Trendell have been improving the program in great ways.

“In previous years, we were getting blown out by mediocre teams,” Yarusso said. “This year, we were losing to really good teams by one or two goals.”

A new style of defense has been the key to the Jaspers’ change. Coach Trendell was an impressive player at Rutgers, winning the Midfielder of the Year Award in 2013 as well as being a member of the team when they ranked sixth nationally in defense.

“Our coaches now are really going to take the program in the right direction,” DiNorcia said. “I believe that the seniors helped pave the way for that. We’ve come a long way.”

As DiNorcia finishes her time as a Jasper, she hopes to see the team improve to a winning record in the future. She said that there are different people who can work together and have a connection, which will help the team be successful.

“This whole year was a learning process,” Yarusso said. “Getting that connection should start in the fall. With the incoming class, we should start building that relationship with everyone on the team.

Tennis Honors Seniors Bricketto and Rosello

Jaclyn MarrLeave a comment

Before their April 13th matchup against Monmouth, the Jaspers honored seniors Caitlin Bricketto and Alyssa Rosello. Both players went on to earn wins in their single matches. They notched Manhattan’s two points in their 5-2 loss to the Hawks.

Looking back at the past four years, Rosello and Bricketto recall the obstacles that they have overcome with the team. One major factor is the team’s consistent theme of a small roster. In previous years, the team just hit the average roster size of eight players. However, it has been decreasing each year and in this current season, they only have five active players. Another factor was getting a new coach last season, which helped their program change for the better.

“Getting new coaching was a major change,” Rosello said. “It brought our team to a whole different level.”

Head coach Amanda McEntire is currently in her second year with the team. While the roster size is still a factor in their matches, the team has been improving greatly over the last two years. Last season, their first under Coach McEntire, they placed sixth in the conference and qualified for the playoffs. While this achievement didn’t happen as they had hoped again this season, they continue to be improving together as a team.

“We are together 24/7,” Bricketto said. “We’ve become so strong together as a team. We’ve never really had that before but we have come together and support each other so much this season.”

Rosello added by stressing the fact that the team is always supportive of one another and that they keep positive attitudes.

Another aspect of their team that has been important to these two seniors is their level of play. The program has changed over the years along with them. It has improved to a real division one program, which means workouts, practicing everyday, having a home court and a team trainer.

“We weren’t really a division one program if you look back at our freshman and sophomore years,” Bricketto said. “It is things that normal division one teams do that we were not doing, but now we are. It is 100% a step up in the program.”

One obstacle that the team has overcome in the last few years has been their court access. With no tennis court located on campus, the team would have to always travel to a match or even just for practice. They used to play across the street in Van Cortlandt Park. However, they were not guaranteed courts there.

Now, they travel to Queens and play at the United States Tennis Association Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. Or, they go to Horace Mann and use their court. However, they have had only three matches at these locations, which means that they have spent most of their season traveling to other teams’ home courts.

Both Rosello and Bricketto said that they hope for more players to join and that the team can get more home matches in the coming future. Their game at Horace Mann was the first time the team had ever played there. Only having one home game does not bring a lot of support from the school and they wish that will improve for future members of their team.

“I hope that tennis will become more of a sport on campus,” Bricketto said. “The girls who put all their time and effort into it deserve the support.”