Athlete of the Week - Sammy Cermack

Coming off of two back-to-back disappointing seasons, the Hopkins women’s lacrosse team opened their 2013 campaign this past Saturday at Homewood Field by doubling up Old Dominion 20-10 in resounding fashion. The squad was led by junior midfielder, Sammy Cermack, who began the second half of her distinguished career with a dominant four goal performance. In addition to compiling her second career hat-trick, Cermack also controlled five draws.

The standout middie is looking to build on a sophomore season, which saw her quadruple her point total as a freshman, by scoring 24 goals and 11 assists, while also ranking second on the team in ground balls with 25.

However, Cermack is not distinguished solely by her offensive potential. As co-captain she has taken on the hulking responsibility of leading a remarkably young team, consisting only of five returning starters and twelve newcomers.

This week, The News-Letter caught up with Cermack to assess her outlook on the 2013 season.

NL: Overall, how would you assess the teams play on opening day against Old Dominion?

SC: Overall, I thought our game against Old Dominion was great. We came out fast and scored first and were able to carry our lead throughout the game. When we started to pull ahead, Old Dominion got physical, trying to take us out of our game. They were trying to get inside our heads and mess with us but it didn’t work. Their aggressive play only made us put more goals in the back of the net and we were able to win by ten. It was also cool that we scored 20 goals because this is Coach Tucker’s 20th season and we honored her before the game. This made the win even more special for us.

NL: Against Old Dominion you lit it up on the scoreboard, scoring four remarkable goals. What was the key to your offensive success last Saturday?

SC: I think the key was the space that was created for me by my teammates. Anytime I was able to dodge it was because one of my teammates cleared through for me. And Taylor (D’Amore) was a machine with her feeds on Saturday and was able to set us up right in front of the goal. We were so successful because we worked together as an offensive unit the entire game.

NL: As the season moves on, what are the areas you feel the team needs to improve upon the most?

SC: As the season moves on I think we need to work on our ability to take care of the ball for an entire 60 minutes. If we are able to do this, we will eliminate any runs by the other team.

NL: Describe your offseason — was there any specific part of your game you emphasized in training?

SC: Over the offseason I focused a lot on my left hand and improving my endurance. I wanted to become a more dynamic attacker and be able to shoot with both my right and left hand. I also worked on my endurance so that I would be able to sustain a high level of play for the entire game.

NL: How would you assess the potential of the new freshman class? You guys possess an extremely young team this year, is that an advantage or disadvantage?

SC: Our freshman class is awesome. There are 11 of them, all of which contribute in one way or another. Dene’ DiMartino is starting for us in the midfield and she is becoming a threat. She is one of the best dodgers on the team and has a rocket shot. The class as a whole is extremely hard working and pushes all of us older girls to work harder. They are also fitting in perfectly with all the older girls off the field.

Some of my closest friends are freshman and sophomores. Everyone gets along great on our team and age has become irrelevant this year. Because of this, our chemistry on the field has only improved and will continue to throughout the whole season.

NL: Finally, after two back-to-back seasons hovering around .500, how would you assess the teams chances to take the big step and go far in the playoffs?

SC: I think this year we are going to surprise a lot of people and do something great. We have a committed team all striving for the same goal, to win the conference and the national championship.

We have the most unselfish team we have ever had and we all want to see one teammate do better than the next. I think this unselfishness is going to take us deep into the national tournament. We all love each other so much and never want this year to end.  The only way to do that is to win, so that’s what we are going to do! Watch out for Hopkins lacrosse come May, we are fun to watch!