Fighting Through Struggles and Embracing the Journey
10/25/2019 12:29:00 PM | Field Hockey, Student Athlete, Features, Intellectual Development
By: Justin Lafleur, Lehigh Sports Communications
When being recruited, Drew Pecora was immediately drawn to Lehigh.
"When Coach was talking to me, I knew I wanted to be a part of something bigger than just my four years here," said Drew. "Lehigh gave me the perfect opportunity to that. Coming in, I knew it wasn't going to be easy, but that's something I wanted. I wanted to be able to work hard and make a difference."
Pecora was exactly the type student-athlete head coach Caitlin Dallmeyer wanted to draw to her program, someone who wouldn't only be able to fight through struggles, but also embrace the journey.
Three years later, Pecora has done just that and finds herself on the fringe of an individual milestone. Most importantly, she has been an important reason for the Mountain Hawks' growth as a program.
Pecora's journey hasn't been without speed bumps along the way, but to noone's surprise, she's taken every challenge in stride and come out stronger on the other side.
Drew's biggest challenge came when she suffered a season-ending knee injury before her sophomore year started.
"It was about a week and a half before preseason when I found out I needed surgery," she said.
"It was definitely more mentally tough than it was physically. It was so hard coming off a good first year, wanting to get back into it and keep improving. Having to watch those games on the sideline sophomore year was definitely tough, but I believe it made me grow as a player."
As a freshman, Pecora finishing second on the Mountain Hawks with 12 points behind five goals and two assists. Instead of feeling sorry for herself, Pecora used her sophomore year to increase and enhance skills that were already in place – her hockey IQ and leadership.
"It can be challenging to judge a player's hockey IQ in the recruiting process," said Dallmeyer. "It's something you can easily see once working everyday with an athlete, but not always from observing them at showcases. I was very unaware during Drew's recruiting process the level of her hockey IQ, but her coaches spoke so highly of her as a person and the work rate she would bring.
"Then when Drew was sidelined, she was forced to learn to contribute to our program in untraditional ways," Dallmeyer continued. "We had many conversations about her being a leader on the forward line without being on the field. In being involved every day at practice, taking new players under her wing and constantly talking through the game with her teammates, she developed very strong relationships with the forward line. The team developed great trust and admiration for her in those moments and now that she's back on the field, we see the chemistry translate. Her leadership on the attack line has been a main reason for our increase in goals scored this year."
While Drew was improving her intangibles that make a talented field hockey player even stronger, she was also working physically to improve and get back on the field. Much like the Lehigh field hockey program focuses on little victories as it rebuilds, so did Pecora.
Examples of little victories for Pecora included getting off crutches, or running.
"I had to take it one step at a time, realizing it was going to be a long process and it wasn't going to happen right away," she said. "Little goals I tried to get myself to meet kept me going.
"We strive for little victories as a team, too. That's what keeps us moving and growing as a program."
The program's growth is due to multiple, tangible and intangible, reasons. Yes, collective skills within LUFH are improving, but intangible aspects have also played a factor.
"Our culture is the biggest area I've seen grow," said Pecora. "We're working for each other and playing for the girls next to us, which shows on the field. Every day, everyone's positive and everyone wants to be there, which translates to our play.
"We all have the mindset that this is bigger than ourselves and it's bigger than this one season. We're making a change and we have to be patient, but it's going to happen."
Even though the Mountain Hawks are playing for a bigger end goal, there are great things happening this season. Individually, Pecora leads the Patriot League, and is among the national leaders, in goals (11) and points (25), needing just two goals to tie the program's all-time record for goals in a season (13, held by Kim Eng in 2009).
"I couldn't have imagined this success," said Pecora. "Not knowing if I'd be able to bounce back was a big concern. This season has been a shock to be honest, but it's fun.
"My success stems from our whole team," she continued. "We're able to connect better with each other, starting from the back. The midfielders, defense and other forwards are able to find me on the field. We're connecting and gelling."
An unassuming individual, a lot of credit goes to Drew's mindset and mentality as well.
"Drew is a very humble person," said Dallmeyer. "She has never been one to put self goals over team goals. Her mission has always been to be the best player for this team, in whatever position needed, while consistently providing for her teammates in whatever way possible. The personal accolades she has picked up along the way just happen to be a byproduct of her selfless mentality."
As a team, the Mountain Hawks began the season 5-1, their best start in 36 years.
Since, the team has struggled, but let's revisit what was going through Pecora's mind when she committed to Lehigh.
As she said, "I knew it wasn't going to be easy and that's something I wanted."
The program's focus remains on fighting through bumps in the road and getting better every day.
"Coach always tells us to be patient," said Pecora. "It's not all going to click at once, which is something we have to keep reminding ourselves.
"Obviously, the past few games haven't gone like we wanted, but we need to just take it week by week, learn from what we didn't do well, implement adjustments, build our skills and get better every day."
Pecora's "get better every day" mindset has served her well in all aspects of life.
As one of three in her family (all girls), Drew developed that mentality from a young age.
"I would definitely consider myself a competitive person, on and off the field," she said. "It's something my family has instilled into me. Always work for something; it's not going to come to you."
Pecora had to work to rehab from her injury and come back as strong as she did. During her rehab, she was around a field that interests her as a potential future career… medicine.
"I grew up with a family of doctors," said Pecora, a Health Medicine and Sociology double major. "My parents are doctors, along with my uncles and my grandfather. It's something I've really been interested in. This past summer, I completed an internship with Rothman Orthopedics where I shadowed some doctors. It was interesting seeing people go through the same thing as me in my rehab, but from the other perspective."
Perspective is an important characteristic when rebuilding a program. Pecora and her teammates have kept strong perspective, and she credits the leadership of Coach Dallmeyer and the coaching staff.
"Coach is so passionate and excited about building this program, which makes us excited to be here," said Pecora.
"We know our coaching staff is working so hard for us and putting in so many hours and so much time that we want to give it right back to them."
While the coaches have helped Pecora, she's also served as an asset to the entire coaching staff.
"When recruiting, we look for athletes who fit our program values," said Dallmeyer. "Drew was able to not only demonstrate them in the recruiting process, but has also exemplified them every day in her time here at Lehigh thus far.
"When working to ensure we are finding the right fit, we always analyze the family of the athlete, as that is where one first develops their values and learns how to be true to living them," Dallmeyer continued. "Drew comes from a very strong family unit. I truly believe having that family unity behind you aids in providing valuable perspective in tough moments, is a tremendous force in her ability to see the bigger picture and her understanding of how best to serve this team."
"Coming in, I knew it wasn't going to be a smooth, easy road, but that intrigued me," said Pecora. "I was up for the challenge. The experience has definitely been everything I expected and wanted in a program."
When being recruited, Drew Pecora was immediately drawn to Lehigh.
"When Coach was talking to me, I knew I wanted to be a part of something bigger than just my four years here," said Drew. "Lehigh gave me the perfect opportunity to that. Coming in, I knew it wasn't going to be easy, but that's something I wanted. I wanted to be able to work hard and make a difference."
Pecora was exactly the type student-athlete head coach Caitlin Dallmeyer wanted to draw to her program, someone who wouldn't only be able to fight through struggles, but also embrace the journey.
Three years later, Pecora has done just that and finds herself on the fringe of an individual milestone. Most importantly, she has been an important reason for the Mountain Hawks' growth as a program.
Pecora's journey hasn't been without speed bumps along the way, but to noone's surprise, she's taken every challenge in stride and come out stronger on the other side.
Drew's biggest challenge came when she suffered a season-ending knee injury before her sophomore year started.
"It was about a week and a half before preseason when I found out I needed surgery," she said.
"It was definitely more mentally tough than it was physically. It was so hard coming off a good first year, wanting to get back into it and keep improving. Having to watch those games on the sideline sophomore year was definitely tough, but I believe it made me grow as a player."
As a freshman, Pecora finishing second on the Mountain Hawks with 12 points behind five goals and two assists. Instead of feeling sorry for herself, Pecora used her sophomore year to increase and enhance skills that were already in place – her hockey IQ and leadership.
"It can be challenging to judge a player's hockey IQ in the recruiting process," said Dallmeyer. "It's something you can easily see once working everyday with an athlete, but not always from observing them at showcases. I was very unaware during Drew's recruiting process the level of her hockey IQ, but her coaches spoke so highly of her as a person and the work rate she would bring.
"Then when Drew was sidelined, she was forced to learn to contribute to our program in untraditional ways," Dallmeyer continued. "We had many conversations about her being a leader on the forward line without being on the field. In being involved every day at practice, taking new players under her wing and constantly talking through the game with her teammates, she developed very strong relationships with the forward line. The team developed great trust and admiration for her in those moments and now that she's back on the field, we see the chemistry translate. Her leadership on the attack line has been a main reason for our increase in goals scored this year."
While Drew was improving her intangibles that make a talented field hockey player even stronger, she was also working physically to improve and get back on the field. Much like the Lehigh field hockey program focuses on little victories as it rebuilds, so did Pecora.
Examples of little victories for Pecora included getting off crutches, or running.
"I had to take it one step at a time, realizing it was going to be a long process and it wasn't going to happen right away," she said. "Little goals I tried to get myself to meet kept me going.
"We strive for little victories as a team, too. That's what keeps us moving and growing as a program."
The program's growth is due to multiple, tangible and intangible, reasons. Yes, collective skills within LUFH are improving, but intangible aspects have also played a factor.
"Our culture is the biggest area I've seen grow," said Pecora. "We're working for each other and playing for the girls next to us, which shows on the field. Every day, everyone's positive and everyone wants to be there, which translates to our play.
"We all have the mindset that this is bigger than ourselves and it's bigger than this one season. We're making a change and we have to be patient, but it's going to happen."
Even though the Mountain Hawks are playing for a bigger end goal, there are great things happening this season. Individually, Pecora leads the Patriot League, and is among the national leaders, in goals (11) and points (25), needing just two goals to tie the program's all-time record for goals in a season (13, held by Kim Eng in 2009).
How about a huge 👏🏼 for junior Drew Pecora, who scored three goals this weekend to up her season total to 11. She continues to lead the Patriot League, is tied for 12th nationally and is just two from tying the program single-season record‼️ pic.twitter.com/UOaQ6KbYLn
— Lehigh Field Hockey (@LehighFH) October 14, 2019
"I couldn't have imagined this success," said Pecora. "Not knowing if I'd be able to bounce back was a big concern. This season has been a shock to be honest, but it's fun.
"My success stems from our whole team," she continued. "We're able to connect better with each other, starting from the back. The midfielders, defense and other forwards are able to find me on the field. We're connecting and gelling."
An unassuming individual, a lot of credit goes to Drew's mindset and mentality as well.
"Drew is a very humble person," said Dallmeyer. "She has never been one to put self goals over team goals. Her mission has always been to be the best player for this team, in whatever position needed, while consistently providing for her teammates in whatever way possible. The personal accolades she has picked up along the way just happen to be a byproduct of her selfless mentality."
As a team, the Mountain Hawks began the season 5-1, their best start in 36 years.
Pecora then scored on another rebound for her third multi-goal game of the season already! pic.twitter.com/qhB3WIxmby
— Lehigh Field Hockey (@LehighFH) September 22, 2019
What a pretty goal! Havas carries upfield and finds Pecora for the highlight-reel goal and a 1-0 Mountain Hawks' lead over Georgetown. Watch: https://t.co/LpvHe71zVy. pic.twitter.com/9wwXz9JSbJ
— Lehigh Field Hockey (@LehighFH) September 15, 2019
Since, the team has struggled, but let's revisit what was going through Pecora's mind when she committed to Lehigh.
As she said, "I knew it wasn't going to be easy and that's something I wanted."
The program's focus remains on fighting through bumps in the road and getting better every day.
"Coach always tells us to be patient," said Pecora. "It's not all going to click at once, which is something we have to keep reminding ourselves.
"Obviously, the past few games haven't gone like we wanted, but we need to just take it week by week, learn from what we didn't do well, implement adjustments, build our skills and get better every day."
Pecora's "get better every day" mindset has served her well in all aspects of life.
As one of three in her family (all girls), Drew developed that mentality from a young age.
"I would definitely consider myself a competitive person, on and off the field," she said. "It's something my family has instilled into me. Always work for something; it's not going to come to you."
Pecora had to work to rehab from her injury and come back as strong as she did. During her rehab, she was around a field that interests her as a potential future career… medicine.
"I grew up with a family of doctors," said Pecora, a Health Medicine and Sociology double major. "My parents are doctors, along with my uncles and my grandfather. It's something I've really been interested in. This past summer, I completed an internship with Rothman Orthopedics where I shadowed some doctors. It was interesting seeing people go through the same thing as me in my rehab, but from the other perspective."
Perspective is an important characteristic when rebuilding a program. Pecora and her teammates have kept strong perspective, and she credits the leadership of Coach Dallmeyer and the coaching staff.
"Coach is so passionate and excited about building this program, which makes us excited to be here," said Pecora.
"We know our coaching staff is working so hard for us and putting in so many hours and so much time that we want to give it right back to them."
While the coaches have helped Pecora, she's also served as an asset to the entire coaching staff.
"When recruiting, we look for athletes who fit our program values," said Dallmeyer. "Drew was able to not only demonstrate them in the recruiting process, but has also exemplified them every day in her time here at Lehigh thus far.
"When working to ensure we are finding the right fit, we always analyze the family of the athlete, as that is where one first develops their values and learns how to be true to living them," Dallmeyer continued. "Drew comes from a very strong family unit. I truly believe having that family unity behind you aids in providing valuable perspective in tough moments, is a tremendous force in her ability to see the bigger picture and her understanding of how best to serve this team."
"Coming in, I knew it wasn't going to be a smooth, easy road, but that intrigued me," said Pecora. "I was up for the challenge. The experience has definitely been everything I expected and wanted in a program."
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