Only in a coach-player relationship as strong as the one forged by Jennamarie Colicchia and Laura Redler can the coach say:
“She’s just a dork.”
And the player reply with:
“Yeah, I’d say dork is a good way to describe me.”
Colicchia means that in only the best of ways, however, when describing her four-year goalie in both lacrosse and field hockey. When Colicchia took over the Ravens’ lacrosse program in 2014, she immediately tabbed Redler her keeper as a freshman. Redler had already been in that position in the fall, although Colicchia did not become field hockey coach until the following year.
During their seven seasons together, the bond of respect has grown.
“I’m very blunt and honest with her, because she’s very mature for her age,” Colicchia said.
So, where does this dork thing come into play?
“She marches to her own beat,” the coach said with a laugh. “She wants to do environmental stuff, agricultural stuff. On Saturday after practice, she’ll go for a 10-mile bike ride or go hiking. She loves to be outside. She just wants to be in the wilderness. You go for it kid!”
Again, there is no argument from Redler.
“I am 100 percent a nature girl,” she said. “When I’m not at practice, you can find me hiking up mountains, laying in my hammock, camping and getting as fully immersed in nature as possible. Or, teaching friends everything I know about our natural world.”
That attitude comes her family, which has always taken to the outdoors. The Redlers hike, kayak and attend seminars that teach about the environment and the animals who live in it. Upon graduation, Redler plans to study wildlife conservation at Virginia Tech and hopes to work for a wildlife refuge center or become a park ranger.
That’s actually very impressive, and doesn’t sound all that dorky.
Finally, Colicchia revealed Redler’s hard-core inner dork.
“During every single warm-up, you’ll catch her dancing at some point, and we’ll videotape her,” the coach said. “That’s just how she is. She needs to do her dance before she gets in goal. I say goalies are their own type of person, so whatever goalies need to do to get ready for the game, that’s fine with me as long as they’re ready.”
Redler has always been ready, which is why she has maintained her starting jobs throughout high school. She enters the season needing 69 saves for 500, which Colicchia equates to scoring 100 goals for an offensive player.
All that’s missing is an invitation to Dancing with the Stars.
“Dancing is now basically built into my game day warm-up,” Redler said. “My coaches know that at one point I’m going to have to dance. The music just pumps me up, and I just improvise a lot of my moves.”
This has been going on ever since she passed her first “audition.”
“The first time I danced in warm-ups, I saw my teammates and coaches got a kick out of it so I like to make them laugh,” Redler said. “It also allows me to get pre-game jitters out of the system. So once I finish my little dance, I know it’s time to get serious.”
And she does that in a big way, be it games or practice. Colicchia praises Redler for never complaining during the non-stop work she and her fellow goalies do during practice. Despite having a guaranteed starting spot, she practices as if still trying to make the team.
“She brings the spunk and knows how to get down to work,” Colicchia said. “That’s what I look for in all my players.”
She also looks for talent, which Redler has. Redler began lacrosse at age 12 and was originally a defender before the coach switched her to goalie after one game. Two years later, her friends told her Pond Road needed a goalie in field hockey so Redler joined the team in eighth grade.
“I dabbled in most of the recreational sports growing up, such as soccer, softball and basketball,” Redler said. “None of them ever stuck more than two years.”
Field hockey and lacrosse were different, however, and she plunged into both of them with her usual zeal as a high school freshman.
“Goaltending for both field hockey and lacrosse requires being able to handle pressure, not being afraid of the ball and the ability to lead my teammates from the back of the field,” Redler said.
There are some variations, of course, as Redler added, “The games are very different from each other. One is played on the ground and the other is in the air. Also, my equipment is very different when comparing the two.”
One of Redler’s biggest assets is to come up with a huge save when the team needs it most.
“She makes big plays,” Colicchia said. “When a fast break comes down, she stops it, and it’s a momentum changer. She has that loud voice in the background too, so when she makes a save and clears it, everyone knows, ‘Oh my God, she just made the biggest save, let’s get down field and let’s do this for her.”
Like most young goalies, Redler had to learn to put it behind her after a shot got, well, behind her. Colicchia noted that she has become mentally tough in those situations and, on the rare occasion where it gets to her, the coach will motion “Let it go in the wind.”
“She’ll be like, ‘OK, I got it,’ and she knows to get ready for the next shot, the coach said.
“It definitely took a lot of practice to be able to do that,” Redler said. “I also had to change my mindset, from beating myself up when I allow a goal, to being able to learn what I need to do next time to save the ball.”
There are times when Redler gets pummeled with shots against such powerhouse teams like Allentown and Notre Dame. The coaches make sure she is tested in practice to prepare for such occasions.
“It’s such a comforting feeling knowing she’s there because she knows what to do,” Colicchia said. “When she makes mistakes, she knows how to self-correct. I don’t have to be correcting her and telling her, ‘You need to do this.’ And she would never blame somebody else. She knows how to take the onus on herself.”
Redler is the last line of a defensive unit that includes Andrea Pintimalli, Claire Herrera, Megan Testa, Amanda Allen and Ash Ganesh. The Ravens are coming off a 6-10 season, and Colicchia feels there should be improvement.
“We had a smaller group come back this year than last year,” the coach said. “But it’s more positive for our team. Everyone that came back wants to be here. You can tell our team morale is up a lot, and that’s what we struggled a little bit with in the past.”
Redler feels the defense is rounding into shape.
“We are working hard in practice to get the kinks out now, so we can be our best during games,” she said. “Being able to communicate where the ball is, or when there are cutters is definitely a big thing during our games. Communicating with each other is one of our strong points.”
One of Redler’s strongest individual points is keeping her team loose.
“I tend to fool around a lot with all my coaches and teammates,” she said. “I try not to take life too seriously.”
If that’s what it means to be a dork, it sounds like a lot more people might want to sign up.
Laura Redler minds the goal during the Robbinsville girls’ lacrosse team’s 13-3 win against WW-P North last April. (File photo by Suzette J. Lucas.),
