Reflections Magazine Issue #76 - Spring 2012 | Page 13

Athletics Feature

ing a team. You have to do fun stuff like that
together. It forms bonds and relationships.”
According to her players, it worked.
“We have a blast wherever we go,” said sophomore Tayleen Marowelli, a former high school
athlete who decided to go out for lacrosse.
“We’re like one big family on and off the field.”
Marowelli is one of several first-year players
on the roster who had to learn the sport from
scratch. Hill said there are also currently four
SHU women’s soccer players on the roster—
including goaltender Alessia Vagnini—
who have also been quick studies.

“We had to go back to square one,” Hill said.
“The soccer kids already had the field vision.
They knew how to play. It was just a matter of
getting the throwing and catching down. A few
times they tried to kick that (ball) and they got
in trouble because the whistle goes off the minute the ball touches any part of your body.”
Vagnini, who is used to roaming the field as
a high-energy soccer player, has had a difficult
transition to playing a stay-at-home goalie in
lacrosse, Hill said.
“She’s used to being out on the field and running,” Hill said of Vagnini. “We’ve got a goalie
who we can’t keep in goal.”
Marowelli, a four-sport standout at nearby
Lenawee Christian High School, said learning
lacrosse was a blend of soccer and basketball
skills.
“And I had to use a stick instead of my feet,”
she said. “Once you learned to catch, you pretty
much get it. One day it clicks.”
“Those kids who came in brand new, they
are awesome,” Hill said.
Freshman Sam Skodi, a member of the first
recruiting class from the Chicagoland suburb
of Naperville, Ill., said she feels like a coach on
the field at times. And she doesn’t mind one bit.
“It’s a lot of fun to get it started, and I love
teaching,” said Skodi, one of the team’s leading
scorers who is in her seventh year of playing. “I’m
usually a coach back home over the summer.”
Hill said variety is the key to training her
youthful players. She has enlisted a strength and
conditioning coach to work with her players a
couple of days a week, and also makes games out
of many of her practice drills.
“You don’t want to run the same drill over
and over again,” Hill said. “I really try to make the
drills fund and add some variety to them. Every
time we do it, we try to get better and better.”
The Saints have only one won
game this season; however,
there has been progress.

Making it even more challenging is that
SHU only has two home matches this season,
including its home opener against defending
national champion Indiana Tech. Hill decided to
take her team on the road, playing top programs
in Savannah, Ga., Chicago and St. Louis. She
said her team benefited from the experience.
“At Robert Morris (in Chicago) we had two
games in a row. That’s 120 minutes with only
one sub,” Hill said. “By the last 30 minutes of that
(second) game, they dominated the other team,
who was playing their first game. That‘s really a
true measure of a team, especially when you‘re
down a lot. I was really proud of them.”
“It’s a challenging season, but it’s not frustrating,” Marowelli said. “We all know we are learning and we know that half of our team is brand
new. We’re working really hard, so it’s encouraging to know that we are building something
really strong.”
“I love it here. Lacrosse has been awesome,”
said Skodi, who cited playing her older sister’s
team, Indiana Tech, as the highlight of her
season. “It’s been really fun just to get to know
people. It’s a learning experience. You just have
to roll with it.”
Hill said help is on the way. Now with a full
year to recruit, the Saints already have a bumper
crop of prep student-athletes on the way. In fact,
Hill said she has commitments from players in
several states, including Colorado, Connecticut,
South Carolina, Ohio and Michigan.
“The talent will improve,” Hill said. “The
first season is definitely something we’ve been
through together as a team. We’ve made it
a good experience.” u