SWR’s Kluber signs with Mercy College

Following the Shoreham-Wading River field hockey team’s season-ending loss in the Long Island championship, an inevitable sadness came across the seniors, knowing their field hockey careers were finished.

For Marissa Kluber, it was just a beginning.

Kluber signed a National Letter of Intent to play field hockey and lacrosse at Mercy College.

“I went in looking to do lacrosse, but I wanted to do field hockey,” Kluber said. “I wasn’t ready to let it go. [Mercy] was the college that offered me to play both.”

It may sound like a daunting task to play two sports in college, but Kluber is ready for the challenge.

“I feel like even if I was playing one sport, I’d have winter ball too so it’d kind of be the same,” she said. “I like staying busy. It keeps me on track of things.”

Kluber also looked at schools like Adelphi, C.W. Post, East Stroudsburg, Dominican and Bryant in the recruiting process. She settled on Mercy about a week before signing, she said.

In lacrosse Kluber plays attack and midfield and in field hockey center and left forward.

Playing on a travel lacrosse team, Suffolk County All-Stars, helped her gain exposure to college coaches.

One of Kluber’s friends who went to Comsewogue, Kristen Znaniecki, is a freshman at Mercy this year and plays field hockey.

“We could talk to her family since I’ve known them forever,” she said. “Her sister played on my travel team. So she’d be able to tell us the inside scoops on the things they don’t tell us.”

Kluber will be part of a new programs in both field hockey and lacrosse at Mercy. This season was the inaugural year of field hockey in Division II, becoming the 27th school to add the sport in D-II. This season will be the second for the lacrosse team. The lacrosse team posted an 8-6 record last year to begin the program.

She won’t be the first Shoreham athlete to play both field hockey and lacrosse in college. Brie Claire Drost (’08) plays both sports for C.W. Post.