Ever since senior goalkeeper Victoria Kammerinke stepped onto Ellen Ryan Field, she has been rewriting the St. Joe’s record book. The German born goalie currently holds the career record for both wins and shutouts while also setting the single season records.
And if it weren’t for a visit to Germany from Head Coach Lynn Farquhar on New Year’s Day during her senior year of high school, Kammerinke may have never stepped foot on Hawk Hill.
“Lynn was the only coach that came over,” Kammerinke said. “I thought it was very cool, very personal. I feel that reflects on St. Joe’s. Based off of that, I made the decision to come over and visit campus.”
After the meeting, Kammerinke took her official visit to St. Joe’s. Her two day trip was the first time Kammerinke had been to the U.S and it was all it took to convince her to move 3,819 miles from Kaarst, Germany to Philadelphia to join the program.
“It was my first impression and well, it was a good one,” Kammerinke said.
Since her freshman year, Kammerinke has played a key role in bringing St. Joe’s field hockey to national prominence. In the season before she arrived, St. Joe’s finished 9-9 and lost in the first round of the Atlantic 10 Tournament.
In 2018 St. Joe’s won the A-10 championship for the second year in a row and went 18-1. They were ranked #10 nationally and qualified for the NCAA Tournament for the second year in a row. Kammerinke won A-10 Defensive Player of the Year and was selected to the NFHCA All-American Second Team.
“She has always had those leadership qualities, but every year she has taken on a bigger role,” Farquhar said. “Her positivity and her attitude to just get onto the next play, we rely on her for that now. She wasn’t quite there as a freshman but she did her role.”
Kammerinke said she focuses on those qualities on the field. Since freshman year she said the area where she most improved was in her ability to communicate and lead her teammates.
“I know in my role as a goalie and a captain I have to be an authority and be able to get my points across,” Kammerinke said. “Our backfield, which includes me, just needs to have a voice to direct our players.”
Her voice is what stands out to her teammate and fellow goalkeeper sophomore Kate Gogel.
“To be a really good goalkeeper you need a strong voice,” Gogel said. “She has a very strong voice. Coming from the back of the field, it is easy to have her voice translate up into our lines so that our whole field is really connected.”
Gogel described Kammerinke as somebody with a strong work ethic who takes her academics very seriously. These aspects translate over to field hockey where Kammerinke uses her mind as much as her physical skill.
“The most important part though is the mental component,” Kammerinke said. “You have to understand the game. We watch a lot of tape so when I am on the field and a scenario comes up I have to be able to recognize it.”
To Farquhar, despite the pure athleticism and mental fortitude that it takes to stand in front of and save a rock hard field hockey ball, it is Kammerinke’s love of the game that makes her special.
“She is out doing individual goalie workouts early in the morning,” Farquhar said. “It is her passion that is driving her. She is in her zone and listening to her gut out there and that is what your best athletes do.”
St. Joe’s has begun this season 8-1 and is currently ranked #11 in the country. Kammerinke said her goal for this season is to get out of the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Though they may face program’s from larger schools or from conferences with talented teams, Kammerinke relishes in the idea of St. Joe’s taking on those odds.
“Remember the Eagles when they won the Super Bowl,” Kammerinke said. “It is pretty similar to that. We know going into the games playing any Big 10 or ACC team we are the underdog. It is pretty cool to embrace that position.”
