RUF AND TUMBLE: Princeton Day School girls’ lacrosse player Shelby Ruf, middle, races between two foes in recent action. Last Wednesday, junior midfielder Ruf tallied three goals and three assists to help PDS defeat the Peddie School 21-11. On Monday, the Panthers topped Somerville 17-10 as Ruf contributed one goal and two assists. PDS, now 7-2, plays at WW/P-North on April 24, hosts Delaware Valley on April 26, and then plays at WW/P-South on April 29. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

By Bill Alden

Last spring, Shelby Ruf helped shore up the defensive unit for the Princeton Day School girls’ lacrosse team with her height and athleticism.

Getting moved up to the midfield this season for PDS, junior star Ruf is utilizing those qualities and her defensive acumen to make an impact for the Panther offense.

“It was definitely a change, I know how the defense works,” said Ruf, who plays goalie for the school’s New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) Non-Public A state champion girls’ soccer team in the fall and is a forward on the basketball squad in the winter. “Just taking that into the attack really helps. I love it, it is so much fun.”

Working with PDS senior stalwarts Tessa Caputo, Jesse Hollander, and Kelly Christie has helped ease the transition for Ruf.

“I look up to all of the seniors, they have helped me so much, especially moving from defense to playing more attack,” said Ruf. “In practice or in the game, I always get pointers from them.”

Last Wednesday as PDS hosted the Peddie School, Ruf was in attack mode, tallying three goals and three assists as the Panthers rolled to a 21-11 win.

Ruf helped Panthers roar out of the gate, tallying a goal four minutes into the contest as the Panthers built an early 5-1 lead.

“Our main goal was to go out there, get the draw and come away with it as fast we can,” said Ruf.

“We have worked a lot on our attack, just executing in the first couple of minutes. That was big and our energy was huge today.

The Panther scoring was spread out over the course of the game as Caputo tallied seven goals and four assists in the win with Hollander chipping in three goals and three assists, Christie adding two goals and one assist, and sophomore Lucia McKee getting three goals.

“We are a very selfless team, we want our teammates to succeed,” said Ruf.

“If we can get the assist and our teammate gets the goal, that is fine. I think that is what helps our attack, having so much diversity.”

In the third quarter, Ruf led the attack as she tallied two goals and two assists in the period.

“I was in synch and my teammates encouraged me,” said Ruf “Yesterday in practice we worked a lot on draw controls and our transition. That helped a lot.”

Ruf has been taking draw controls to help ignite the PDS transition.

“I have worked a lot with coach [Lucia] Marcozzi, she has helped a lot with that,” said Ruf.

“We have been focusing on our draws and just helping build our midfield.”

The influence of new head coach Marcozzi has helped give the Panthers a different focus.

“She has been great, we absolutely love her,” said Ruf of Marcozzi, a former Bucknell women’s lax standout. “I think having a change helped, it gave us a different view on things.”

Marcozzi, for her part, loves the way Ruf has adjusted to her new spot in the field.

“Shelby has had such a great coming out here, she has really come into her own,” said Marcozzi

“Coming into the season, she didn’t have a lot of confidence in the midfield because she is predominately a defender. I think putting her there, her teammates, especially the seniors, really trust her. She is a three-sport athlete. People just really love to see her succeed and she feels that confidence and it is just making her keep rolling. She is crushing it.”

Senior midfielder and Fairfield commit Caputo is also crushing it, having recently hit the 200-goal milestone in her PDS career.

“Tessa is great, that was so well-deserved,” said Marcozzi, referring to Caputo’s career achievement.

“But the thing is, besides the 200 goals, she passes to a freshman or a senior, she doesn’t care. She sees assists the same way she sees goals. I am lucky and this team is lucky that she has that mindset.”

The team’s offensive balance has been a key to its success.

“We have a lot of contributors if we run our offense,” said Marcozzi, whose squad defeated Somerville 17-10 last Monday to improve to 7-2.

“Sometimes we get in our heads that we don’t want to run it. We all try to be heroes. Once we run it, it turns out good.”

At the defensive end, junior goalie Grace Ulrich and senior defender Maddy Flory helped the Panthers hold the fort against Peddie.

“Grace did great in goal,” said Marcozzi. “Maddy is our senior on the back end so once she starts talking, everyone finds their calm and listens to her. I think she really turned it on in the third quarter.”

With PDS playing at WW/P-North on April 24, hosting Delaware Valley on April 26, and then playing at WW/P-South on April 29, Marcozzi is looking for her players to combine their enthusiasm with some patience going forward.

“I think the girls are finally getting excited going into games now, they are not nervous about what this game is going to be,” said Marcozzi.

“We have to get better at possessing it; a lot of times I will call out different numbers because I want them to hold that until the clock hits that. We have to get better at being smart and disciplined on when to shoot. I want them to tone it down and possess and play the clock.”

In Ruf’s view, the squad’s camaraderie gives it an edge.

“I think our team chemistry is hard to match, we just fire ourselves up so much,” said Ruf, who has committed to attend Merrimack College and play for its D-I women’s lax program.

“Having the support of our teammates has helped so much. That plays into everybody’s confidence, not just in ourselves but having confidence in our teammates too since it is such a small group.”