Drew University Athletics

Twenty-five years after her graduation, Melissa DellaRusso McSweeney still ranked among the most prolific goal scorers in Drew field hockey history. Her 49 career goals were listed as fifth all-time in the record book, highlighted by her 21-goal senior season in 1991. She also added eight assists for a total of 106 points, a mark that ranked seventh in program history. Remarkably, she did all of this despite missing nearly an entire season to a debilitating injury.
 
Only four players who wore the Drew Blue & Green have scored more goals in a single season than DellaRusso McSweeney. Her 1991 season earned multiple accolades, including a MAC All-Star Team, CFHCA Regional All-America First Team and most notably, an invitation to the CFHCA Division III National All-Star Game. With her individual accomplishments came team success as the Rangers posted a .635 winning percentage during her career.
 
Following a breakout sophomore campaign in which she scored 15 goals and earned a nod to the Regional All-America Team, her playing career hit a roadblock when she suffered a major knee injury while skiing in the winter of 1990. The outlook was bleak as doctors told her she would never play sports again, that even professional athletes rarely come back from this type of injury. DellaRusso McSweeney simply didn’t accept that as an answer.
 
Determined to return to action, she undertook an intense rehabilitation program that included the use of mobility machines and muscle stimulators in her dorm room for 10 hours a day. Miraculously, she made her return at the end of 1990 and went on to score the game-winning goal in the MAC semifinals.