Each week, The Baltimore Sun will publish a Q&A with a college lacrosse coach or player. Today's guest is Johns Hopkins junior midfielder Dene' DiMartino, the top returning scorer for the No. 17 Blue Jays, who are playing an independent schedule this spring after spending the past 13 years in the now-dissolved American Lacrosse Conference. DiMartino, who plans to go to nursing school after graduation, had a goal, an assist and five draw controls in a season-opening 8-7 overtime win over Marquette on Sunday at the University of Houston.
What attracted you to Johns Hopkins from Long Island?
It was just the coaching staff and honestly, the education. I knew that I was going to get an education that's second to none, and I knew I wanted to do something medically, so that was a huge part. Also, the teammates were so welcoming and the coaches were amazing. You're not going to find a coach like coach [Janine] Tucker anywhere else, and Steele [Stanwick] and Tara [Singleton], they're both really great also. It was a great fit for me and I couldn't be happier here.
What other schools did you consider?
I visited Maryland, North Carolina, Duke and Hopkins.
After graduating two players who contributed 47 percent of the points, how is this year's attack making up for that?
They're definitely big shoes to fill. Sammy [Cermack] and Taylor [D'Amore] and all those seniors were really great players and contributed a lot to our team. This year, we're really young. We have 12 freshmen and that's like a third of our team. They understand that they're going to be relied on heavily, because we're going to need them, so I think they're doing a really good job. The middies have come together and realized we have to do this together. It's not just a one-person team and it's been going well so far.
As the top returning scorer, how has your role changed this season?
Just as a leader, really, because Sammy and Taylor, they really brought everyone along. As a captain, I have to worry about everyone else on the field as well as me, so my role is changing that way, making it my responsibility now to bring everyone along and make sure everyone is on the same page.
Is being leader an easy role for you?
It's never going to be easy, but in high school I was a leader, captain and all that. Playing soccer and basketball also in high school really helped me with adversity, because you're dealing with so many different types of girls. I think that really helps me here at the Division I level, having so many different personalities and understanding how everyone's wired.
How does playing an independent schedule change the approach to the season?
We don't really talk about it that much. We are taking the same approach as if we were in a conference, but we know we're pretty much alone now. We have to work a lot harder for ourselves to get to the NCAA tournament without a conference. We don't talk about it that much because we should be working just as hard as we did last year.
Would you like to see the Blue Jays in the Big Ten [as Hopkins' men's lacrosse program is]?
I wouldn't mind it. Some of the girls were talking about it the other day. Just to be in a conference, it's awesome. To compete in a conference and hopefully win that conference gives you something to work for, but I guess now we're looking to the bigger picture. The Big Ten would be a tough conference to win, but it would be really challenging. But I think it's OK. It's good that we're independent. It's something new and we're just getting our feet wet in it and we'll see where it takes us.
What did you learn about this young team in the season opener, the overtime win over Marquette?
We give a lot of credit to Marquette. They were hustling all over the field. They definitely stuck to their game plan and definitely scouted us really well. I think we were caught a little off guard at first. We were a little sloppy. I think a lot of girls were a little nervous. We had a lot of turnovers we shouldn't have. I think if we stuck our shots earlier it would have been a little bit different. We would have had some momentum. ... We stuck with each other, we stuck with the game plan and we fought to the bitter end and came out with a W.
You played that game in Houston. What was it like to play in the first Division I women's lacrosse game in an area that's not a lacrosse hotbed?
I was shocked it was the first Division I women's lacrosse game, but it was packed. There were so many little kids that looked up to us running around. We got to sign autographs after the game, which is so cool because those girls look up to us so much and we were signing balls, shirts, sticks, backpacks — you name it — and they were telling us how awesome it was. It's cool that we can be role models for these girls in areas that may not have the role models.
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