Mulcahy Powers Women’s Lacrosse

Photo Credit/ Ronald Hanaki

BY RONALD HANAKI 

Sports Editor 

 

Senior Kerry Mulcahy will be honored as one of four seniors on ESU’s Women’s Lacrosse team on Senior Day this Saturday.

Mulcahy excelled at playing lacrosse while in high school.

She was recruited by a number of schools, but Mulcahy chose ESU because she liked the PSAC the best. She was also going to be a speech pathology major, and ESU had a good program.

Mulcahy has always been a hard worker, and that effort has paid off this season. The Warriors have set a new school record with 13 wins and find themselves in first place in the PSAC.

“I knew we were going to be good,” said Mulcahy. “This is a young team with really hard workers.”

Leadership comes naturally to Mulcahy. She was the captain of her high school lacrosse team.

“It’s not hard to be a leader for people who are going to work hard,” stated Mulcahy.

But last season was tough. Although the Warriors set a new school record with 12 wins, they lost the last two games to West Chester and IUP and did not get to play in the postseason PSAC Tournament.

The West Chester game was especially difficult because ESU lost at home to the Golden Rams in double-overtime.

“We put our hearts into West Chester, and a loss like that affected how we came out against IUP,” said Mulcahy.

Last year’s top two goal-scorers graduated, and the team has been starting a freshman goalkeeper this season.

“This is a young team, so it’s a different atmosphere,” said Mulcahy. “But this team works hard and comes out every game with a lot of heart.”

It has been a banner season for the Warriors. ESU has already clinched a berth in the postseason PSAC Tournament with two games left in the regular season. The sky is the limit for this team.

“Our goal is to win it all,” said Mulcahy.

“We need to work our hardest,” said Mulcahy. “And we need to be 100% to be successful.”

Mulcahy credits second-year Head Coach Xeni Barakos for the team’s success.

“She [Barakos] has completely changed our program around,” said Mulcahy. “She definitely believes in us and what we can do.”

“It was the change in culture that propelled our program forward,” explained Mulcahy. “We had the same players, but we just needed more leadership on the field.”

Despite losing its top two goal-scorers from last season, Mulcahy was never worried about where the goal-scoring was going to come from.

Senior attack Lauren Green has blossomed into a leader this season, and junior midfielder Chessie Rahmer continues to be a reliable scorer for the Warriors.

“And our transfer from Gardner-Webb, Emma Rufolo, has really stepped up and changed the culture of our team,” said Mulcahy.

With only four seniors and two juniors on the roster, this is a very young team.

“We are a young team who wants to win for each other. They [the underclassmen] want to win for us,” stated Mulcahy.

“They want to put a lot into the program, and they have really stepped up and really turned our team around,” said Mulcahy.

Mulcahy admitted that Senior Day will be bittersweet because she will be saying goodbye to her teammates and friends. After all, lacrosse is a family affair for Mulcahy.

“I wouldn’t be playing in college without my parents,” said Mulcahy.

“My brother taught me a lot about sports,” said Mulcahy, “and my family comes to every game.”

Mulcahy is in the process of applying to graduate school for speech pathology and said that Dr. Susan Dillmuth-Miller is her favorite professor.

“She [Dr. Miller] really taught me a lot and helped me move forward with my career,” said Mulcahy.

But for now, lacrosse remains her priority.

“I’m psyched for the rest of the season,” said Mulcahy. “If we keep doing what we’re doing, we will hopefully be successful and come out on top.”

“So keep supporting us,” said Mulcahy. “We definitely would not be where we are without our fans.”

 

Email Ronald at:

rhanaki@live.esu.edu