June 9, 2010
Zetlin leads way for Michigan women
by Kat Hasenauer Cornetta/
Framingham's Sam Zetlin led the Michigan women's club team to a strong season in 2010.
Sam Zetlin’s freshman year at the University of Michigan was full of records. Most goals (35), points (45), and hat tricks (8) of any Michigan women’s club lacrosse rookie. Least amount of games held scoreless in Wolverine history (2). Most games with multiple assists in program history (4).
It is ironic that Zetlin’s records are mostly for rookies, seeing that she treated the season like it was her senior season of high school. She missed her senior season at Framingham High School after tearing up her left knee in January of 2009.
“I was really excited to play this season after the [anterior cruciate ligament] tear my senior year,” said Zetlin, who plays attack. “I looked at playing this season as reliving my senior year in a new environment.”
The 2009 ACL injury was not the first for Zetlin, who had torn the ACL in her right knee as a 13-year-old soccer player. Both recoveries took her out of sports for at least six months at a time.
“The first time, I had the injury in September, surgery in November, and I was back playing sports in June,” she explained. “The second time, I injured myself in January, had the surgery in February, and rushed myself back, trying to get on the field for my senior year.”
Her rushed recovery did not go as planned. “I wasn’t fully recovered,” she said. “I was on the field for, literally, two minutes in one game,” a token appearance made on her team’s senior day.
Still, the injury and the missed field time didn’t dissuade the Framingham coaches from naming Zetlin that season’s team MVP for her leadership and effort.
Despite her injury-caused disappointment, Zetlin speaks fondly of her time at Framingham under coach Stacy Freda.
“She is the best coach I’ve ever had,” Zetlin gushed. “She knew how to take advantage of our team’s strengths to cover over our weaknesses, of which there were a few!
“We had a huge team camaraderie,” she explained further. “Our team was made up of a large number of girls who also played soccer in the fall, so we were together all year. I played with Shaunna Kaplan (finishing her senior season at New Hampshire), Kristin Igoe (a junior at Boston College) and Mel Baskind (a Harvard sophomore), who were all phenomenal athletes, and great girls to look up to.”
Choosing Michigan was a no-brainer for Zetlin when it came time to pick a school. Michigan has a strong connection with Framingham High, with Julie Baskind (Mel’s sister) captaining the Michigan club team last year, and recommending the school highly.
“I chose Michigan because of its academics, history and athletics,” said Zetlin. “I wanted to get out of the Northeast and try something new.”
Zetlin became an impact player for the Wolverines right away. Coach Jen Dunbar told The Michigan Daily in April, “We didn’t know exactly what to expect, but we knew after the first week of tryouts that she was going to be an impact player.”
Zetlin herself knew what her new team needed: “They lost a lot of seniors in 2009, which resulted in our having nine rookies this year. We had huge potential and opportunity.”
During the season, the Wolverines found themselves ranked among the top club lacrosse teams in the nation, being ranked No. 9 in the nation when the regular season drew to a close. The team played for the Women’s Collegiate Lacrosse League Championship on April 18 against Lindenwood University, falling in a close game, 10-9.
Despite the loss, Zetlin called it her favorite game of the season.
“It wasn’t my best game stats wise, but I think everything came together for us in that game. We had played Lindenwood the week before, and lost 16-8. We were motivated to meet them again. Our goalie played amazing and, as a whole, we played really well. We tied it up in the last 10 seconds of the game, but they got a lucky goal at the end to win.”
The loss kept Michigan out of the WDIA National Championships, the title tournament for women’s collegiate club teams. The Wolverines – ranked No. 10 by Laxpower and No. 13 in the polls – were the highest-ranked team to miss the tournament; they finished 10-8, with all of the losses against the other teams ranked in the top 10.
Zetlin has high hopes not only for her own play, but for her team’s chances in her sophomore campaign.
“Our not making Nationals was not an indication of our talent and drive this year,” she claimed. “I think we are a big contender for Nationals next season. I know I’m excited to get back and try again.”
While the National Rookie of the Year candidate waits to return to Michigan in the fall to begin practicing with her Wolverine teammates, she’s returning to her lacrosse roots and helping out Coach Freda and the team that got her started in the sport.
“I’m playing with the scout team at Framingham High practices to help them train,” she said in early May. “I learned a lot from the scout teams made up of college girls when I was at Framingham, and I’m excited to get to do that for the current team.”
