Jamie Romano chose to play at Marist College - so LPD wanted to find out more about her coach and the great program they have...
Meet Jessica O’Brien
Coach... How did you end up at Marist? I played here at Marist from 2004 to 2008. By my senior year, we had won the MAAC title for the first time in the program's history. It took a long four years for my class and the team to get there but I like to think the journey was part of the success. During those years we had four different assistant coaches and we lost our head coach less than a month before our season opener during the winter of 2008. Needless to say, we overcame a lot of adversity and turned a not-so-great situation into a historical year by winning the conference. I like to think that my senior year had a lot to do as to why I’m back here now. After graduation I became a graduate assistant at Wagner College where I earned my MBA in management. At the time I wanted to get into business, however the coaching aspect of the position was far more rewarding. As I completed my degree at Wagner, the head coach position at Marist had opened. Fast-forward three years later and here I am. How did Marist fair this year in the MAAC? Did you fulfill your goals? We had a great season overall this year, losing to three-peat MAAC champ Canisius by one goal in the final. We outscored our MAAC opponents 97-50 during conference play, had three players who were nationally ranked within the top 15 in
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Photos: Marist College
Head Coach, Marist College Women’s Lacrosse
Jessica O'Brien, Head Women's Lacrosse Coach, Marist College - reviewing a situation with Co-Captain Amanda Tuck.
their category, and most importantly we set the new standard for our program going forward. Of course, our goal is to always be MAAC champs, but the improvements we’ve made over the year speak volumes for this team and their work ethic. Let’s not forget that we were faced with a 1-7 record midway through the season. We then won the next seven of eight games, hosted the MAAC championships and beat Fairfield by one in OT, then lost to Canisius by one in the final - talk about a season of lows and highs! Other than achieving the conference title, yes I’d say we fulfilled our goals but if you ask any of the girls, they’ll just say they’re now hungrier than ever for more.
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