Staff Writer
Jenelle Jahoda of the women’s soccer team and Zach Pietras of the men’s cross country team team highlight this weeks Springfield Student Newspaper Players of the Week award for 11/10/11 through 11/16/11.
Athletes of the Week for 11/10/11–11/16/11
Jenelle Jahoda
“JJ” as she is known by her teammates, got the first and game-winning goal against Cabrini at Johns Hopkins University’s Homewood Field on Saturday. In the loss to host Johns Hopkins, Jahoda assisted on Vicky DiNatale’s lone goal for the Pride. Jahoda clearly made her contribution, just like everyone else on the team. The women’s soccer team finishes with a final record of 15-4-2. The senior from Lebanon, Conn. started 20 of 21 games this season for the Pride. Jahoda finished her senior campaign with a goal and three assists. Jahoda and other seniors, Katie Mantie and Jackie Moscardelli leave behind a successful four years on Alden St.
Q. How was it for the women’s soccer program to participate in its second consecutive campaign?
A. Traveling as a team to new places is always exciting and we were very happy to have another year to do so. It’s always an awesome feeling to make it to the NCAA’s.
Q. Did the team exceed expectations by going to the second round?
A. No, we knew we could do it and it was just a matter of getting the job done. All of the teams in the NCAA’s are great teams so it was a big accomplishment to make it as far as we did.
Q. Do you consider your goal against Cabrini your biggest contribution this season?
A. Being a member of this team and working hard at practice and in games, as well as ensuring that my teammates are always ready to play at their best is my contribution.
Q. Which professor on campus is your favorite, and why?
A. Professor Accorsi. He does not only support me academically, but as an athlete as well.
Zach Pietras
With a 25:47.31 finish, Zach Pietras finished 51 out of 233 competitors in the Division III New England Championships this past Saturday. Peitras has been a strong supporting teammate along with Anthony Salvucci and Ryan O’Connell as the three juniors, along with grad-student Brian Fuller have combined to make one of the best combinations in the region. With the three juniors returning next season, they will continue to make Springfield a strong competitor via a “triple threat.” That is not to say that the other 19 teammates were also huge contributors to this past weekend’s 9th-place team finish of 49 teams. The Division III Championships will be announced later in the hosting city of Oshkosh, Wisconson.
Q. How do you and your teammates continually keep focused to getting top finishes?
A. Going into the season we knew we had a very strong team to work with. This motivated us from the very beginning of the season. Other teams didn’t think we were a factor. This is what really drove us at the end of the season to perform and show everybody what we were really made of.
Q. Anthony Salvucci, Ryan O’ Connell and you will be returning seniors. In what way will this factor into next year’s season?
A. Throughout the season we never really talked about next year. We focused on the present, realized what we had, and made goals off of what we thought our capability was. Now that the season is over for most of us, we have already made goals for next year, and they are even higher expectations than this year.
Q. Has coach Bryan Brown been a motivational factor in his first season with the team?
A. Coach Brown has been the final edge that we needed to fulfill our capability. From the first time that we met with him, we knew that things were going to change for the better. Our team has improved so much from last year, and he is the reason why. He is the coach and leader that we needed.
Ricky Mazella may be reached at nlovett@springfieldcollege.edu