Jennifer Hart often ends Goucher women's lacrosse practice with a story about her playing days at the College of New Jersey.

Her players love to hear those tales -- especially the ones about her freshman year.

"In her freshman year, no one really expected a lot of her team," said senior Lindsay Ayres. "They didn't have the credentials to go to the Final Four, but they did. That's a great story and she related it to us in a way that was very inspirational. It gave us hope that we could be on a team like that."

Hart's stories inspire the Gophers even more because she brings a personal record that they -- and most everyone else -- can only dream about achieving. As a lacrosse player and head coach at CNJ, Hart won five NCAA Division III championships. She never lost a game.

As a player, Hart was part of a Lions' streak that eventually reached 102 straight wins and six straight national titles. In her first year as a head coach, she guided CNJ to a 15-0 record and the national championship last spring.

Hart, 26, wants to bring some of that success to Goucher -- but she is realistic.

After all, Goucher was 7-8 last year. The Gophers have never had an unbeaten season as an NCAA affiliate and haven't had a winning record in three years.

At CNJ (formerly Trenton State), there never was a lack of highly skilled players. At Goucher, Hart has had to recruit a few basketball players and swimmers just to fill out the roster. She has several players who have never played lacrosse.

"I knew it was going to be a challenge," said Hart, "but they made it to the NCAA playoffs three years ago. I want to get them back there."

The players, four of whom were on that 1996 team that finished 18-2 and reached the NCAA semifinals, are glad their new coach is a proven winner.

"Especially at Goucher, which is a small school and we play schools with thousands of people, it's important to have someone who knows how to win," said Cara Tracey, an Archbishop Spalding graduate. "We know she wants us to have the same college experience she had."

After that amazing college career, which also included two NCAA Division III soccer titles and a year as assistant coach, Hart accepted the head coaching job at CNJ, knowing that it might last only a year.

Sharon Pfluger, who had coached the Lions to eight national championships, took off last spring to have a baby. Also the Lions field hockey coach, Pfluger had considered giving up lacrosse to concentrate on coaching the hockey team. Instead, she opted to return to lacrosse this spring.

That left Hart, a New Jersey native, looking for a job.

Enter Goucher swimming coach Tom Till, a CNJ alum. Till knew that Goucher needed a lacrosse coach after Kathy Frick left to become head field hockey and assistant lacrosse coach at Bloomsburg University in Pennsylvania.

Till told Goucher athletic officials about Hart and he told Hart about Goucher. Pretty soon, the match was made.

Hart started working with the Gophers in fall ball and will have them ready for Monday's season opener at Catholic.

From the beginning, Hart has tried to do more than teach skills and strategy. She is trying to foster the kind of atmosphere that she believes is always present in winning teams.

"I played with a group of girls who were friends," said Hart. "I'm trying to get them to spend time together off the field. Then when they get on the field, it's a different feeling. They trust each other and they want to play together."

That's especially important because Hart has such a young team. Although there are five seniors -- All-Capital Athletic Conference pick Ayres, Tracey, Eliza Hahn, Sarah Flynn and Dawn Dugan -- there are 17 sophomores and freshmen.

But Hart doesn't let the Gophers forget that it also takes a few things other than camaraderie to be successful.

"She really tries to develop a strong work ethic in us and the desire to be the best you can be," said Ayres, "and she does that in a real positive way.

"She's young, and it's very hard to walk that line between, 'Do you want to be respected?' or 'Do you want to be liked?' She's both," said Ayres.

Hart is certainly not pressuring the Gophers to match her New Jersey success. Even she has one blemish on her record -- the Lions' loss to Middlebury in the 1997 national championship game while she was assistant coach.

Her goal for Goucher this season is a winning record.

"I might be setting that a little low," said Hart, "but if they achieve more, they will feel so much better. I really just want them to learn from me and to have fun."

Still, just having a new coach who is so used to winning does put a little more pressure on a team.

"It's not a bad pressure," said Tracey. "We want to make her proud of us. We want to impress her. You can just tell she cares so much and she wants us to win."

Pub Date: 3/02/99