Lacrosse
Favorite athlete: Tobin Heath – I enjoy watching her unique style of play on the soccer field. She is always doing something creative, and I have a similar style of play on the lacrosse field.
Favorite team: U.W. Women’s Soccer National Team
Favorite memory competing in sports: I don’t have one specific favorite memory. Every time I step on the field for practice or a game, I feel like tons of awesome memories are made with my teammates, coaches, family, etc.
Most embarrassing/funniest thing that has happened while competing in sports: My good friend’s mom was videotaping our youth soccer game a while back, and she happened to have a front row seat of me tossing a girl off the ball after she pushed me a bit. It was the most uncalled for thing to do in a youth soccer game, but I was just always aggressive and competitive. She ended up sending the clip to me one day, and it has been on my phone ever since. It never gets old…not much has changed!
Music on iPod: A good mix of everything…Justin Bieber, Chris Brown, Michael Jackson, Elton John, etc.
Future plans: Enjoy my journey through college and become successful!
Favorite motto: “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.”
By Mary Jane Souder
Monica Dresnin grew up with the dream of becoming the next Mia Hamm.
“I used to love, love soccer,” the Plymouth Whitemarsh senior said. “She had a book, and in elementary school, I always remember I used to fight the kids because that was the book people wanted to read, and I would hold onto the book during library because I just loved Mia Hamm and I loved soccer.”
By middle school, Dresnin’s childhood dream was little more than a distant memory as lacrosse moved to the fore.
“I played both sports for a while,” she said. “Soccer was always my thing. It always came before lacrosse actually.
“I started playing club lacrosse for Ultimate the summer after sixth grade, and after that, it just took off from there. It just clicked with me.”
Intrigued by the speed of the game and the newness of the sport, Dresnin threw herself into a sport that was her new passion.
“She was the kind of kid – she’s everything lacrosse,” said PW coach Ellen Reilly, who knew Dresnin was a special talent long before she entered high school. “I knew her through our Conshohocken Bulldogs program.
“She’s always throwing against the wall, always playing, always trying to get better.”
A four-year varsity player, the senior captain – a fierce competitor - is the engine of a Colonials team with high expectations.
“She sees the field, and that’s not something you can teach,” Reilly said. “She's the leader of our team. Teams are sliding to her, they’re face guarding her. She’s got to be able to see the field, read it and give the ball up, and that’s what she’s been doing for us.”
Last fall, Dresnin signed a letter of intent to play lacrosse at Rutgers University. Her journey has not been an easy one.
In seventh grade, Dresnin – whose play is characterized by her all-out, aggressive style – was injured on the hockey field.
“I went out for the Colonial rec league field hockey team, just to try it out because everyone that plays lacrosse seems to play field hockey as their fall sport, so I figured – why not?” Dresnin said. “The first game I was running down the field, and I remember my legs got stuck between someone else’s stick, and I ended up falling the wrong way.
“Before that, I had never had a serious injury, no broken bones. When that happened, I got the feeling that something was totally wrong.”
A visit to the hospital alleviated her concerns when she was told it was just a sprained knee.
“They said, ‘When you feel like you’ve been rested, you can go play,’” Dresnin recalled. “After the swelling went down, I had the feeling of the knee giving out all the time.”
A visit to an orthopedic doctor confirmed it was much more than a sprained knee.
“He did the ACL testing and said, ‘There’s no stoppage point for your knee. It’s a total ACL tear,’” said Dresnin, who also had a torn meniscus. “I had absolutely no idea about ACLs, no idea.
“I realized how bad it was when they talked about up to a year of rehab.”
It marked the beginning of a long and arduous rehab for Dresnin.
“It just took lots of family support – my family was great with it,” she said. “My mom always made me go to physical therapy three times a week. Even when I didn’t want to go, she always said, ‘It will turn out for the best.’”
A year later, Dresnin was back on the soccer field playing for her eighth grade team.
“I was playing in a game – I remember it was a little bit muddy, it had just rained,” she said. “I ended up sliding into a little mud pit, and I felt the same feeling when I tore my ACL the first time.
“I realized, ‘This might have happened again.’ At that point, we had all the connections. I saw my physical therapist the same night. They do an ACL test, and he said he felt the stoppage point, so he wasn’t too worried that it was a full ACL tear.
“After the swelling went down, we did the testing again with my orthopedic doctor. He said there was a stoppage point, but it wasn’t a great stoppage point, so they figured I partially tore my ACL, so I had to go back to rehab.”
Although Dresnin didn’t have surgery, she once again found herself on the sidelines.
“When that happened the second time – you kind of question it,” she said. “I was in eighth grade. I went through the full year of rehab, and you question if it’s ever going to be the same.”
After another extensive period of rehab, Dresnin was back on the field and was part of both the high school’s soccer and lacrosse teams as a freshman and sophomore.
“Both of those years she struggled with her knee,” Reilly said. “She wrenched it and would have to sit out a couple of games and then she’d wrench it again, but she pushed through it.”
Despite her setbacks, Dresnin – with her impeccable instincts, relentless work ethic and outstanding talent - was still on the wish list of more than a few colleges.
“I always say if I didn’t start playing club lacrosse I don’t think college lacrosse would even be in picture,” she said. “I never really imagined myself going to play a college sport.
“The summer before my sophomore year – that’s when things really picked up. I started to realize lacrosse was my sport, and I was passionate about playing in college. Coach Duck (Jen Duckenfield) was my recruiting mentor pretty much. I remember seeing all the college coaches lining up during games. It’s just crazy to see.”
As a sophomore, Dresnin made a verbal commitment to Rutgers.
“I was looking at location because I’d definitely say I’m a homebody,” said Dresnin, who narrowed her final list to Rutgers and James Madison. “The conversations I had with coach Brand (Laura Brand-Sias) and the whole team atmosphere I loved. The location is perfect. My family is going to be able to come to my home games. That just worked out perfectly.”
Unfortunately, yet another setback awaited Dresnin.
“She was so excited for last year’s season,” Reilly said. “We had our first game with CB West at CB West. They came back and won it in the last couple of minutes, but she played amazing.
“That weekend she was out on our turf practicing shooting, honing in on her game, and she doesn’t even know how she did it. Next thing she knows she’s texting me saying, ‘My knee is so swollen. I can’t move it.’”
Dresnin was sidelined the remainder of the season.
“We’re not actually sure what it was,” she said. “It might have been ACL or meniscus.
“I had to get it drained, the whole process – go through rehab just to make sure of everything. It was really tough.”
By summer, Dresnin was back on the lacrosse field, and she came into her final high school season ready to go.
“Anything I could do on the side, I made sure I did,” she said. “I would do extra physical therapy.
“I did weight lifting to stay strong and keep my core strong. I just kept saying to myself I had to make a comeback this summer for club. I ended up coming back and had a good summer season.
“In the offseason, I got a new speed trainer. I’ve been pretty much working my butt of because I knew I had to be in the best shape possible for this season to prevent injury.”
So far so good.
The Colonials are 3-1 out of the gate with several impressive wins on their resume.
“I’m super excited,” Dresnin said. “I said to my coach – I can walk through the hallway at school, and people are talking about girls lacrosse at PW, which has never really happened in the past, so to hear that is just awesome. It’s what I’ve been waiting for for four years.”
According to Reilly, it’s not a coincidence that the Colonials are experiencing success with her back in the lineup.
“She’s a positive leader,” the PW coach said. “She’s not that loud and vocal, but when she has to be she is. She also demands certain things from her teammates. She’s not afraid to let them know if they made a mistake, but she’s not afraid to accept that she’s made a mistake either. I think that’s why the kids voted her captain because they see her work ethic. She outworks everybody.
“She turned her ankle during spring break, and it was due to her fighting for a ground ball at practice and going all out. I’m like, ‘All right, take a little breather here’ because we need her. I can’t have her off the field. I need that senior leadership because my younger kids – they learn from her.
“They watch her, they wait for her to communicate with them, and she needs to be on the field to do that. She’s such a good kid, and she’s worked so hard. Even last year having to sit out, she was on the sidelines, involved in the game, communicating with the kids and encouraging them, telling them good things, telling them things they needed to work on. She was there every day.”
And while Dresin isn’t the next Mia Hamm, the senior standout is certainly a difference maker on the lacrosse field for the Colonials.
