Freshman focuses on details

She would never admit it, but freshman midfielder Katie Lewis-Lamonica is a star in the making.

Her quiet confidence has enabled her to dominate opponents thus far this season — to the tune of 15 goals and four assists. But don't confuse her modesty for a lack of competitive spirit.

"If I am playing defense and marking the ball," she said, "I have a lot of fun playing against the best attackers and thinking in my head, 'Bring it, let's go' ... I love that kind of direct competition."

This is the strength of Lewis-Lamonica's game — the one-on-one situations.

"When I have the ball, and a defender is marking me who looks like they are really aggressive and really confident, I think to myself, 'I'm going to blow you out of the water,' " she said.

Looking back on the beginning of the year, Lewis-Lamonica does not remember what she feared most about coming to Princeton to play lacrosse, a sport she picked up in middle school because a friend asked her to play.

"I had no idea what to expect," she said. "I know one of my concerns was how long it was going to be until I got to play."

Clearly, playing time has not been an issue for Lewis-Lamonica, the only freshman to start all 12 games this season. What she didn't expect was the level of intensity at which college lacrosse teams compete.

"I think a lot of it comes down to everyone's drive," she said. "Every player on the team wants you to be the best you can be and pushes you. We all want to be great, we all want to be champions."

Playing under head coach Chris Sailer, Lewis-Lamonica has also had to adjust to the team's attention to detail — the biggest change from high school lacrosse, she says. The coaching staff has constantly scrutinized her game, helping her refine all aspects of her play. Most notably, Lewis-Lamonica has become more defensive-minded. She no longer thinks of herself strictly as an attack.

"Now, I'm depended on for defense ... I can't slack off," she said.

Lewis-Lamonica's dedication to defense has shown itself on the field. She has forced 13 turnovers this season and picked up 22 groundballs.

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Her rededication to defense has not affected her offensive production, though. She is one of five Princeton players to have 12 or more goals on the year. Modeling her game after that of seniors Lindsey Biles, Elizabeth Pillion and Ingrid Goldberg, Lewis-Lamonica always keeps an eye on these players both in practice and in games.

"In a lot of ways, I model all of them," she said. "I watch the way [Biles] plays and cradles and dodges and tries to intimidate her opponents. I watch Elizabeth Pillion, who plays with so much heart and runs the field like a madwoman. And Ingrid Goldberg, who plays with a great intensity and focus and has been able to help me along in my mental game."

While Lewis-Lamonica is quick to point out these seniors, she also says that she has learned a lot from her very talented classmates.

"That is really exciting for us [as a class], because it means that we have so much potential and so much in front of us in the future," she said.

But before the class of 2008 can think about the years to come, they must focus on finishing off this season with the same drive and heart with which they began it.

"I can't even imagine what [the tournament] is going to be like," she said. "I know that this upcoming weekend we have Dartmouth, and I see the way that our team is getting prepared for the game. I think that this is a taste of the intensity that the whole team will head into the tournament with."