RUF AND TOUGH: Shelby Ruf displays her intensity as she guards the crease area in a game this spring for Merrimack College women’s lacrosse team. Former Princeton Day School standout Ruf produced a superb freshman campaign as a defender for Merrimack, starting all 17 games and totaling 15 ground balls, seven caused turnovers, and three draw controls. (Photo provided courtesy of Merrimack Athletics)
By Bill Alden
It didn’t take long for Shelby Ruf to get up to speed as she joined the Merrimack College women’s lacrosse team last fall.
As former Princeton Day School star Ruf hit the field for fall ball to start her freshman year, she was able to hold her own.
“When you get to college, everybody is good; everybody is a Division I athlete,” said Ruf. “I think the change of pace is definitely something to get used to and also how competitive everybody was. There is no slacking off — you have to go 110 percent on every rep. It is crazy. I do think I was able to hang with them. I did a really good job of prepping in the summer and getting used to playing against girls at that level. I do this summer league in Basking Ridge that is run by Ally Mastroianni, who is a USA lacrosse player. It is some of the top girls in New Jersey and in the country. It is a pickup league but it is pretty intense.”
The versatile Ruf quickly found a home on the defense for the Warriors.
“I am a true defender at heart,” said the 5’8 Ruf, a three-sport athlete at PDS who also starred in soccer and basketball. “It was awesome to be able to play defense this year. I think playing midfield and being able to get that attack experience in high school helped me on defense. I would say I play defense with an attack mindset — I know what these attackers want to do. That definitely helps.”
Making the starting lineup for Merrimack’s season opener against Monmouth on February 6, Ruf was fired up for her college debut.
“I have never had so much adrenaline going in to a game before,” said Ruf. “It was so fun. I know a couple of girls on Monmouth; it is a Jersey team so that just fueled my fire even more. It was definitely nerves, but also a lot of excitement. I was the only freshman who was starting — I think I might have been the only freshman who got into that game. My coach (Jen Fox Sargent) talked to me and said just go out there and play and have confidence in yourself. I think just having my team backing me like that was awesome.”
Being on the field in a Division I game was an awesome experience.
“I would say it is literally non-stop; in high school, there are definitely some pauses,” said Ruf. “It is a lot more aggressive too which honestly I like as a defender. You can get away with a little more, you can play more aggressive. The refs let you play. There is a little more at stake in the game, you want to go out and make an impression. In high school there wasn’t as much pressure. We are a tiny school but people show up and show out to our games which is awesome. That was different, having people in the stands cheering loudly.”
As Ruf went through the spring, she made a very good impression.
“Walking out of that first game I felt so much more confident,” said Ruf, who started all 17 games for the Warriors and totaled 15 ground balls, seven caused turnovers, and three draw controls. “The more and more games that I got and played in, it just absolutely shifted my confidence. I am pretty vocal on the field. My coach and the other defenders would say keep up the talk.”
Ruf was buoyed by the team’s upbeat chemistry. “I have never been surrounded by girls who want each other to succeed and push each other on the field and also in the classroom,” said Ruf. “It is a great environment. It was our second year in the (Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference) MAAC, which is now the Metro. A lot of people doubted us at the beginning of the season. In the first year in the MAAC, they didn’t win any conference games and they won just one game overall. We came in and went 6-11. We had three conference wins and had a really big upset against Quinnipiac (15-14 on April 6). This was our year showing people that we are here and we are ready
to compete.”
The Warriors competed hard to the end of the season, going 3-1 in their last four games.
“In practices, we held ourselves to a higher standard,” said Ruf in assessing the team’s strong finish. “We did that all through the fall and the preseason but once we got in through spring we realized like alright we need to start to lock in and add more pressure on ourselves in practice and push each other. We fight to the end in every single game, it doesn’t matter the score. Once we got our first win under our belts (18-8 over University of New Haven in March 4), it gave us so much more confidence. We showed ourselves that we can do this and that we can compete.”
The Merrimack defense stepped up as the Warriors topped Manhattan 8-7 and Iona 12-6 in their final two games.
“Our coach does an amazing job of just scouting,” said Ruf. “We don’t have a set defense that we play. We will throw any kind of defense — zone, man, and backer. We have a rover defense. Some of these defenses I have never played in my life. It was so cool to see different ones. Our defense was so connected as unit. We were able to go back and forth. Whatever we needed to do for a game, we were ready to play that defense. Our preparation helped a lot.”
In Ruf’s view, the squad’s camaraderie helped it get better and better as it went 6-6 after a 0-5 start.
“It didn’t matter who was starting, it didn’t matter if you got subbed off for somebody else, you are so excited for the next person to come in,” said Ruf. “Our motto was ‘believe.’ That was a big thing for us, to believe, not just in ourselves but in our teammates and the person next to us. That is what helped us connect so well as a team and just be so happy for each other. It was a lot of genuine connections. Our team has great chemistry times 1,000.”
This summer, Ruf is working hard as she looks to make a bigger impact in her sophomore season.
“I would say getting stronger — I have always lifted and conditioned myself,” said Ruf. “I just really want to step it up this year. I showed I could hang with people. Now I want to be one of the fastest ones on the team and one of the strongest ones on the team. It is just putting the work in the weight room and getting stronger. It is any way that I can improve
my game.”
A key emphasis for Ruf is improving her clearing game, a critical aspect of being a standout defender.
“In my end of the year meeting one of my main focuses was clearing the ball up the field,” said Ruf. “One of the things that I struggled with was having that confidence of taking the ball myself. These girls will swarm you as soon as you get the ball. That was a difference from high school. You get the ball, you take two steps, and you have four girls on you. That is something I am definitely working on. You can always have better stick skills; that summer league definitely helps.”
Beyond sharpening her skills, Ruf is determined to have more of a voice on
the field.
“I do want to pick up my leading, I want to help with that,” said Ruf. “I also want to make more of an impact on the field. I have one year under my belt. I know how the refs call things in college, so being more aggressive in that aspect, getting those ground balls and creating those caused turnovers and being a leader on the team.”