Shawnee gets big boost from Troost

In 2009, Nicole Troost spent exactly two practices with the Shawnee freshman girls' lacrosse team.

After the second one, Marisa McCormick, in her first stint as interim varsity coach, asked the Renegades' freshman coach a simple question about Troost: "Is she as good as I think she is?"

Answer: "Yes, without a doubt."

"So I brought her up to varsity for a seven-vs.-seven. Literally, it was like watching a junior or a senior," McCormick said. "You couldn't even tell she was a freshman. I had heard how good she was, but I was shocked."

Things have come full-circle for McCormick since then. In 2009, she was filling in for head coach Janae Zechman, who took a season off after giving birth to twins. McCormick returned to her assistant duties for the next two seasons when Zechman returned, but now finds herself in the exact position she was in three years ago.

This season, she leads a Renegades team replacing nine seniors, dealing with a slew of injuries, and about to embark on a grueling regular-season schedule.

But she still has Troost - still playing a much more mature, advanced game than her age suggests, still surprising McCormick with her skill and leadership.

Things will look different for Shawnee, a perennial South Jersey power. But as she has been since her freshman year, Troost remains one of the team's rocks.

"Truthfully," McCormick said, "I'm much more comfortable being an assistant coach. But the adjustment is made so much easier because of players like Nicole. She's like a coach on the field.

"She's had that mature attitude, tremendous work ethic, and those leadership qualities since she was a freshman, and as her game has gotten better, so has her leadership of this team."

Troost, a University of Massachusetts recruit, enters this season with 146 career goals. But goals might be slightly harder to come by this year as she moves from attack to midfield.

The switch was made largely so that Troost can better lead her team. She is relishing the move so far.

"I like playing midfield; it's what I'm playing in college," Troost said. "You have more authority at midfield. I'm able to talk to my teammates more on offense and defense.

"I want to be able to play good defense. I want to be able to be a leader and play as a team."

It says something about the quality of the Renegades program when McCormick can call this season "the biggest rebuilding year we've had in my 10 years at Shawnee." The team still boasts several top players. Troost, senior defender Alexis Martin, and junior midfielder Shannon Nugent are among the area's best at their positions.

But Nugent is recovering from a fractured ankle, though she likely will be ready for the season. And Martin missed some time with a pulled groin this offseason - not to mention the stomach flu that McCormick said has recently been going around the team.

The Renegades are trying their best not to let those issues affect their preparation for a regular-season schedule that includes state powers such as Chatham, Ridgewood, and, yes, archrival Moorestown.

It can be a lot for someone not accustomed to being a head coach. But McCormick acknowledged that it's not hard for her to keep smiling.

The Renegades feature budding young talent, loads of team speed, and a bona fide star in Troost.

"I have faith in the girls," McCormick said. "I have faith in their motivation level. I have faith that they'll come through."

Troost has faith, too.

"We know we can be a good team," she said. "We just want to get used to playing with each other, get our communication down, and work well together.

"We're setting our team goals small in the beginning, but those goals will definitely get bigger as the year goes on."