Women’s Lacrosse Set To Take The Field In 2011

Under the guidance of ninth-year head coach Katie Grabiec, the 2011 Elms College women's lacrosse team takes to the field with a 20-player roster that features 10 returners and 10 newcomers, providing an even balance of experience and youth.

Attacker Chelsey Grabowski (South Hadley, Mass.) was the Blazers' leading scorer during the 2010 season following a 19-goal and three-assist campaign that resulted in a team-high 22 points. For her efforts, Grabowski was twice named the New England Women's Lacrosse Alliance's (NEWLA) Rookie of the Week.

Elms also returns senior attacker/midfielder Melissa Meon (South Hadley, Mass.) and junior attacker/midfielder Emily Walsh (Hadley, Mass.) to the team after each took a season off in 2010. Walsh finished the 2009 season scoring a third-best seven goals and finished third in points with nine, while Meon followed with four goals and totaled four points for the Blazers during the 2009 campaign.

The Blazers' 2011 15-game slate features 10 contests at Leary Field, beginning with a 12:00 p.m. game against Green Mountain College on Sunday, March 13.

Here is a look at how the 2011 roster breaks down by position:

ATTACKERS

Grabowski, Walsh and Meon will lead a corps of five attackers that also includes sophomores Kelsy Pero (Adams, Mass.) and Lauren Kalbach (West Harwich, Mass.).

Last season, Grabowski won a team-best 27 draws and finished second on the team with 27 groundball pickups. During the 2009 season, Meon scooped a team-leading 31 groundballs and won a second-best 19 draws, while Walsh added 25 groundballs and 14 draw controls of her own during that season.

MIDFIELDERS

Elms' deepest unit is its midfield which is comprised of eight players. Junior Brittaney Picard (West Springfield, Mass.) and sophomores Catherine Duquette (Naples, Maine) and Catherine Leonard (Chicopee, Mass.) combined to collect 31 groundballs and cause nine turnovers last season. They will be joined by freshmen Amanda Richards (Winchendon, Mass.), Sarah Sherry (East Longmeadow, Mass.), Brianna Lyons (Canton, Mass.), and Gabrielle Calvanese (Agawam, Mass.). Walsh and Meon will also see action in the midfield during the season.

DEFENDERS

Junior Emily McInerney (Glastonbury, Conn.) anchors the Blazers' defensive third of the field. In 2010, she caused a second-best 12 turnovers and collected 22 groundballs.

Juniors Sarah Picard (West Springfield, Mass.) and Marcia Norat (Brockton, Mass.) will add experience and a combined 24 groundball scoops and six caused turnovers to a veteran defense that will look to shut down its opposition in 2011. Sarah Picard will also spend time patrolling the Blazers' midfield.

Junior Asiana Venne (Graby, Mass.) and freshmen Tricia Hutchinson (Springfield, Mass.) and Kate Borisova (Chicopee, Mass.) round out Elms' defensive squad.

GOALKEEPER

Minding the net is junior newcomer Annette Dzidek (Chicopee, Mass.). Dzidek, also a member of Elms' women's volleyball program, is making her lacrosse debut in 2011. Dzidek brings stellar hand-eye coordination and reflexive skills to the position and will look to keep Blazers opponents off balance.

Question and Answer with head coach Katie Grabiec
Q.) Talk about how the balance of returners and newcomers will affect the team this season?
A.) It's huge to have a roster of more than 12 players. It allows us to run more realistic drills and game scenarios and allows us to rotate people in and out of those drills. Having a group of returners that the new players can watch is huge because it also allows me to take players aside and do some individual coaching without disrupting the flow of a practice. It makes a huge difference having this balance because it allows us to do things that we haven't been able to in the past.

Q.) Talk about the depth of the team this season and how this team differs from past years:
A.) With a full roster we're able to give people a rest. Last season there were times when players were just having a bad day or were mentally drained or something along those lines, but we weren't able to sub them out and get a replacement in the game for them. It makes a huge difference in that now we're able to switch things up and try different combinations of players in different positions. I like the mix of returns and newcomers that we have because no one unit is "new" but just being added to.

Q.) Which newcomers will play an immediate role in the success of the team?
A.) Brianna Lyons will play a huge role for us because she has a great lacrosse background and came from a very good high school and is generally just a very aggressive player. Annette Dzidek will be in goal for us. It's interesting because I never would have thought that volleyball and lacrosse would be very similar but Annette is used to having a ball come flying at her and having to make split-second reactions. She is also very patient and has a good sense for where to put the ball, so it has been fun to see her in goal.

Q.) Talk about how the preseason has allowed you to prepare for the start of the 2011 season:
A.) It's been interesting this year because last year for example, I thought our preseason was a bit long, but this year, because of weather it's been too short. It's nice to be able to have a place to go to practice inside but getting on the field for our first game will allow us to figure out where we are in terms of game preparation. I feel like we're a bit slow in our game preparation but hopefully we can use this first game to gauge where we are and then go back and look at that and see what we need to do better. We also lost a few key people from this team that were in leadership roles, so for the players we have, this is something that is somewhat new, so players like Chelsey Grabowski, Emily Walsh and Melissa Meon will have to step up on offense, Emily McInerney will have to step up on defense and Brianna Lyons in the midfield – this is something that is pretty new to all of them so we'll see how that goes.

Q.) What will this team bring to the table in 2011 that other teams have not in the past? What makes this team unique?
A.) They're young, and they're enthusiastic. They all want to be here and they all have done everything I've asked of them. They ask questions, they put forth tremendous effort and the only question that remains is will this translate into wins? It's hard to know that until the season starts because right now we're just untested. It's one thing to face a teammate in practice because you know tendencies and personalities. Playing an opponent is much different because you don't see them every day in practice.