This week’s athlete of the week is Haley Schweizer, a junior on the women’s lacrosse team, who started the season with a record of 3-0. The most recent victory for Hopkins came against Rutgers College, with a win of 14-2. The scoring was led by Schweizer, who had six goals to her name.
The News-Letter: How were you guys able to beat Rugters so comprehensively?
Haley Schweizer: We had two sloppy games against Marquette and American and wanted to get back on track for our bigger games coming up. We wanted to use Rutgers to set the tone.
N-L: You were able to get a career-best six goals and seven points. How were you able to be so effective?
HS: Our defense was incredible, and goalie Caroline Federico made multiple saves, which gave our offense the ball. In addition, Dene’ DiMartino and Emily Kenul worked well on the draw to get the ball. Rutgers plays a girl-conscious defense, so we knew they would not slide to help much, so we just took advantage of a good matchup while the rest of the offense worked hard off ball to make it happen.
N-L: Not only did you guys score 14 goals but you only conceded two. How did you defense lock up Rutgers’ offense so well?
HS: Our goalie had an incredible game. Additionally, in the previous game against American, our defense had a few too many miscommunication errors, so we worked hard all week on cleaning those up to have a strong defensive unit for Rutgers.
N-L: You guys are currently 3-0. Has this perfect start boosted team morale, and if so, how?
HS: The 3-0 start has definitely boosted morale but we know we must stay level-headed for the next upcoming games against other top-20 teams now such as PSU and Loyola.
N-L: As an upperclassmen, how have you supported and mentored the younger girls on the team?
HS: The greatest thing about our program is that it does not matter who is on the field or contributing as long as they are doing their job. Many of our freshmen are seeing time and working hard in practice. Just setting a good positive example for the younger girls and encouraging them to take risks is helping them.
N-L: As a junior, your coursework must be pretty intense. How do you balance your schoolwork, personal life and lacrosse duties so that you can be your best in each area?
HS: We have many resources to help us balance lacrosse, school and life. Our team has an academic advisor, Pat McDonald, who works hard to make sure we are staying on top of our workload. My planner is my life. Almost every minute of every day is planned out in there, which definitely helps me stay on track. I like and welcome a busy schedule because it helps me to stay focused.
N-L: How is the team preparing for Loyola on Wednesday, which will be televised nationally on ESPNU?
HS: We have scouted Loyola well and are excited for what we call “The Battle of Charles Street.” They are one of our biggest rivals. We are coming off of three solid wins and they’re coming off of two losses to top teams, so they’re going to want to take it to us, which is just firing us up even more.
N-L: Any final thoughts on the season so far, predictions for the season as a whole or on anything lacrosse-related?
HS: We hope to make it further than last year in the NCAA tournament (past the first round) and even further. We see many Big Ten teams, which is getting us excited for joining that conference next year. We hope to show and prove to those teams that we are more than capable of hanging with them. This season should be an exciting one as we see many new teams on our schedule.
Schweizer and the women’s lacrosse team will return to the action on Wednesday, Feb. 24, where they will host 18th-ranked Loyola University. The game is set for 5:02 p.m. and will be televised on ESPNU.
