NE10 40th Anniversary Home Page
When the Northeast-10 Conference announced it would begin sponsoring women's lacrosse for the 1999 season, Kelly (Sharenko) Ward '00 recalls understanding the significance of this new opportunity for a Saint Michael's College program that had been without a league since its establishment in 1983.
"It felt like we were more of a legitimate program, joining the other sports on campus that were already recognized," said Ward, a record-setting, All-America goalkeeper and member of the SMC Athletic Hall of Fame. "Playing for a league championship was everything. It's so unnatural to end a season without playoffs and a championship, and this was something to work hard for."
Saint Michael's, which had last played for a title in 1984, when it was Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Division II Tournament runner-up, finished the 1999 season at 9-2 overall and 4-1 in the inaugural season of NE10 play, losing during league action only to Stonehill College, 10-9, in overtime. However, the Purple Knights gained revenge by downing the Skyhawks, 10-9, in the league championship game to capture the first title in NE10 women's lacrosse annals, a moment recently highlighted among the most iconic in the league's 40-year history.
Winning that first league crown was not only momentous for the women's lacrosse program and the Saint Michael's Community, but served as an integral step along the path of advancing the sport for girls and women seeking championship opportunities. Over the years, the NE10 has become the sport's most successful Division II conference, as 12 of 20 all-time national champions - including the last three - are current league members.
Marikate Kelley and Eileen Blackwood served as co-head coaches of the program toward the end of the 1990s, when Kelley completed a nine-year tenure that began in 1992. "Eileen and I both were beneficiaries of Title IX and the opportunities it provided to women athletes," said Kelley, a 1983 college graduate, while Blackwood was an All-Ivy League lacrosse player and 1980 grad of Dartmouth College. "In that broader context, we celebrated the decision of the NE10 to add women's lacrosse for the 1999 season as an important step in providing equitable opportunities for women athletes. In the more local context, we and our players were excited about being part of a league with a championship at the end of the season. While our focus was on each game and the work and adjustments we needed to put in at each practice and each game, it gave us a goal to keep us motivated and focused."
The Purple Knights returned a dozen players from a 1998 team that was 6-4 while adding more than a half dozen first-years. Leading scorers Madeleine Clinton '00 and Kimberly Ryan '01 were back, as was Ward, a 1998 Preseason All-American. Under the tutelage of Kelley and Blackwood, Saint Michael's was on its way to continuing a streak of finishing at least .500 in every season since 1984, the program's second year as a varsity outfit.
"When Eileen and I started coaching at SMC, the women's lacrosse program already had a long winning history and positive culture," offered Kelley. "That history and culture gave us a heads up going into league play. We had previous good success against teams from NE10 schools and felt excited going into the 1999 season. We also had the core of our squad returning and felt we were in position to have a good season."
Kelley looked around the roster and saw capable contributors abound: "Kelly was a fearless goalie. I remember being taken aback the first time I saw her suited up for goal. At a time when most goalies wore as much padding as the rules allowed, Kelly didn't wear shin guards because she wanted to be as agile as possible in the net." Ward set a still-standing Division II record with a .717 save percentage in addition to a 7.16 goals-against average that spring, and the defense - led by inaugural NE10 Defensive Player of the Year Sue Bette '01 (23 ground balls), captain Sara (DeForge) Hough '99, Taryn Elacqua '00 (33 ground balls) and Kathryn Gilliam '01 - greatly aided the effort, forcing numerous bad-angle shots, according to Kelley. Clinton (24 points, 28 ground balls), Joleen Wise '00 (30 points, 36 ground balls) and Emily Quirk '02 (21 goals) anchored the midfield, and Ryan (22 goals, 15 assists, 41 ground balls) controlled draws and triggered the attack. Allison Stebe '02 also contributed 22 goals.
Many leaders agreed with Kelley's assessment of the team's potential. "I do remember having a general sense during preseason that we would be particularly strong," said Bette. "We had skilled players across all positions, and the majority of the previous year's starting team was returning. We knew we had a talented team and we would be in the running, but we also kept our expectations measured and focused on each step." Ward concurred. "I've never looked ahead of the game we were currently playing - always thought it was bad luck to look ahead and have eyes on a championship - but I think we knew that if there were a year, this was going to be it," she said.
"Still, we took it one game at a time, and we really didn't know how good we were going to be until the season progressed," added Kelley.
The Purple Knights, the lone NE10 team to earn any attention in the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association's (IWLCA) preseason rankings, receiving votes toward the national poll, outscored foes by a 77-28 margin en route to winning their first five games before facing a challenging second-half slate.
"Early in the 1999 season, it was clear this team would be different," said Hough, who served as a two-year captain. "Many weeks we were ranked nationally often for multiple [statistical] categories, which was something that I don't remember happening in previous years. Additionally, many of the games that season were not nearly as close as the scoreboard implied. Out of courtesy for the other team, if it was looking to be a blowout, coaches used several tools to ensure we played a fair and respectful game. For example, some games all players had to use their non-dominant hand; another game we had to make a certain amount of passes before taking a shot; and my favorite was when we switched the offense and defense - my one goal as a senior!"
On April 18, the Purple Knights traveled to Bentley University for a meeting between two teams riding a wave of momentum - Saint Michael's was unbeaten at 5-0, while the Falcons had won four straight and stood 3-0 in the league. Ryan had five goals and two assists, Stebe found the back of the net four times, and Bette registered the late game-winner as the Purple and Gold left Waltham, Mass., with a narrow 12-11 win.
Now ranked 10th nationally, the Purple Knights suffered their first blemish by a surprising 12-8 home loss to Bates College before another big contest on the old Doc Jacobs Field loomed two days later, on April 24. Saint Michael's and Stonehill both entered the day with spotless NE10 marks, but the Skyhawks created separation by forging a commanding 8-1 lead by early in the second half. On its home field, the Purple and Gold regrouped by scoring eight of the next nine goals, as Ryan's tying marker with eight seconds left forced overtime. However, Stonehill scored midway through the six-minute overtime session to take the lead for good and claim a significant 10-9 win, securing the regular-season title and the No. 1 seed in the NE10's two-team postseason.
"When we beat Bentley by a goal, we felt we were positioned to be contenders," said Kelley. "The overtime loss to Stonehill helped to motivate the team going into the playoffs." The Purple Knights allowed only 12 goals in their final two regular-season games, wins over Merrimack College and Siena College. Between the victory over the Warriors and a second NE10 loss by Bentley, Saint Michael's had second place to itself and a rematch with Stonehill in the first NE10 postseason championship game on May 2 - this time on the Skyhawks' home turf.
The Purple Knights forged a 5-3 lead by halftime thanks to Gilliam's hat trick, and the defense clamped down on a Stonehill squad averaging 13.3 goals. However, Ward's spectacular 33-save effort on 78 shots, including 19 free-position attempts, was the most memorable performance that day. "I ... remember my dad telling me after the game that there were a lot of students in the crowd from the other [school]," said Ward. "They started heckling the goalie - me! - by calling me Swiss cheese at the beginning of the game. He said it was hard as a parent to hear, but that by the end of the first half, they were instead referring to me as a 'brickhouse.' This sort of lines up with what I remember about my personal performance. There was one series of shots where I think they got off four or five in a row and I saved them all, one of those situations that I can't explain, but I remember thinking I had no business stopping that many in a row. But it gave me the confidence to finish the game stronger than I had started."
After the hosts scored the first two goals of the second stanza to tie the game, Saint Michael's used a 3-0 run to regain control. Maria Ferrante's '01 strike with 25:14 left made it 8-5, but Stonehill netted four of the next five markers, and the teams were tied at 9-9 with 11:49 remaining.
"I remember the game being intense and close," said Kelley. "Stonehill stayed in the game and kept threatening to take the lead. My clearest memory from the game is how proud I was of how the team responded to that pressure. They came into the championship game after that regular-season loss to Stonehill in OT hungry to win. They answered Stonehill's strong performance with clutch defensive plays, key goals and poise in possession."
With 8:09 to go, Quick converted Ryan's feed from behind the net to put the Purple Knights back in front, 10-9. "I actually do have this one very clear memory from that game, and I think it was on that last goal where Madeleine Clinton forced a turnover and sent the ball up to Joleen Wise, who then sent it to Kimberly Ryan, who set up that assist to Emily Quirk," said Bette. "That one play was really absolutely perfect lacrosse, and as soon as that goal was scored I knew we were going to win - especially with Kelly Sharenko in goal to protect the lead. When I think of playing lacrosse at Saint Mike's, I often think of that one play."
Bette was right. Neither team scored after Quirk's strike, as Saint Michael's walked away with a 10-9 win and the first NE10 women's lacrosse championship, not to mention the first NE10 crown for any women's program at the College. Not surprisingly, Ward was named tournament most valuable player, while a team built around balance received goals from six different players. Clinton and Wise scored twice, supporting Gilliam's three goals.
"Stonehill had a couple of very, very talented players, and I think our win was absolutely an upset," said Bette. "What stands out for me was what a strong team we were. I think we played as a team, and we won that championship as a team, and now looking back, that is what makes it special."
Kelley described everyone feeling a sense of joy following the win, which Ward echoed. "One of the team photos from the end of the game is something I remember well," said Ward. "We were so proud to have won that championship and be returning with the plaque to campus that evening. I remember having no voice left because we screamed and cheered so loudly when it was over." No lower seed would down a higher seed in an NE10 final again until 2012, while the 10-9 score remains one of four one-goal decisions in the history of league title games.
Ward was later honored on the US Lacrosse All-America First Team, while NE10 Defensive Player of the Year Bette, who later returned to the program in the mid-2000s for three years as an assistant coach under head coach Carla Hesler, joined Elacqua, Ryan, Ward and Wise as NE10 All-Conference selections.
Years later, Hough is able to view the season through a wide lens. "I recall being excited when the NE10 announced it would begin sponsoring women's lacrosse because it gave a sense of legitimacy to our team and the sport," she said. "The opportunity of a championship offered the team a tangible goal and gave us a platform to demonstrate our talent, teamwork and dedication - more than once practice was still held outside in a snowstorm! The reward of a championship validated an entire season of hard work and sacrifice made by each team member, but was also important to the growth and respect of women's lacrosse as a sport in the larger community."
To Hough's point, the sport has grown exponentially in the two decades since the Purple Knights' NE10 title, not only within the conference but nationally. While powerhouse Stonehill went on to win the next nine NE10 Championships, parity reigned by 2019, when seventh-seeded Merrimack won the tournament. The league's postseason expanded to four teams in 2000 and had doubled to eight squads by 2015.
Meanwhile, the NCAA, which began offering a Division I tournament in 1982 and a Division III championship three years later, started a Division II tournament in 2001, with the field growing from four teams that inaugural season to 16 by 2019. NE10 schools have secured seven national crowns since 2010, and the first program south of Pennsylvania won the title in 2016, when Florida Southern College took top honors.
In the moment, Ward and her teammates admit they didn't realize the significance of that initial NE10 title game and what would follow through the decades. "I can say for certain that I had no idea that it was the start of something larger than ourselves at that time," she said. "Now, it seems hard to believe that it really was something that would pave the way for women's lacrosse for years to come. It's really fun to have the opportunity to think back on it now and to place it in that light. I'm really proud to have been a small part of something much larger in the future of collegiate-level women's lacrosse." That 1999 team laid the groundwork for the Purple Knights' qualifying for five NE10 semifinals by 2008, with stars like Amanda Lohin '03, Jen Thygesen '04, Jess Anderson '05, Lauren Piekarski '05, Kristen Palazzo '06, Brynne Curran '08, Amanda Soule '08, Courtney Wakem '08, Kim Berlo '09 and Lauren Rizzotti '09 all arriving within the decade.
Even before coming to Saint Michael's, Hough witnessed the rapid development of the sport as it flourished within the younger generation. Growing up in nearby Essex Junction, girls' lacrosse was a club sport during her first year of high school; by her senior year, it had gone varsity, and by her senior year of college, she was back coaching an eighth-grade feeder team, while Essex High School offered freshman, junior varsity and varsity squads
"Looking back, it is hard to imagine I understood the importance of the [championship] moment at that time, especially with graduation just around the corner," she said. "However, today I live in the greater Washington, D.C., area and have coached both of my daughters' lacrosse teams. The caliber of play, the speed of the game, and the athleticism of today's players illustrate how far the game of women's lacrosse has come, certainly a long way from when I played in college with a wooden stick. The significance of having championship opportunities validates schools, teams and the players in a measurable way. Reflecting on the legitimacy that a championship can bring to a team and sport, I am confident women's lacrosse has earned the respect of the community at large because the majority of coaches I know today are men. Although some played boys' lacrosse in their youth, fathers are now learning the rules and mechanics of women's lacrosse to coach their daughters and their teams."
Kelley, who left the program after the 2000 season with a 57-32 record and stands second only to Hesler (64) in wins at the school, remains active locally as a referee and an award- and championship-winning high school coach. But even she did not recognize the future impact of her team's championship in the moment.
"At the time, I didn't think of the win in a larger context," she said. "Looking back, it was a tremendous and fitting accomplishment for the SMC lacrosse program. There were so many amazing young women upon whose shoulders the 1999 SMC lacrosse NE10 Championship rested. Going back to 1983, the players who started the program were really pioneers in bringing the game to SMC and growing the game. Their early and continuing success in the years prior to the first NE10 Championship is the foundation that allowed for SMC to bring home the first NE10 Championship."
Saint Michael's Women's Lacrosse Links of Note
ABOUT THE NE10
Beginning its 40th anniversary season, the NE10 is an association of 14 diverse institutions serving student-athletes across 24 NCAA Division II sports. Together we build brilliant futures by embracing the journey of every student-athlete.
Each year, 4,500 of those student-athletes compete in conference championships in 24 sports, making the NE10 the largest DII conference in the country in terms of sport sponsorship. Leading the way in the classroom, on the field and within the community, the NE10 is proud of its comprehensive program and the experience it provides student-athletes.
