Initially, Baltimore native Meghan Plunkett only considered attending local colleges to continue her studies and lacrosse career.
That changed when she visited Northwestern.
During February of her junior year in high school, Plunkett’s club team traveled to Evanston to play against a club team led by NU coach Kelly Amonte Hiller. Plunkett and her teammates watched one of Amonte Hiller’s practices and had individual meetings with her about what they were looking for and what was important to them.
It was enough to make Plunkett set her heart on being a Wildcat.
“I wrote Kelly an e-mail saying how much I loved it out there,” Plunkett said. “Two weeks later, I ended up telling Kelly that’s where I wanted to go.”
Plunkett, an attacker, has five starts in her four-year NU career. She has scored seven goals – one more than fellow senior attacker Hilary Bowen’s single-game high.
Over the past few seasons, the Cats have squared off against numerous less-talented teams for which Plunkett could have started or even been a star.
But for her, being a role player at NU is an experience that trumps any other situation she could have put herself in.
“What makes it worthwhile is when you go into the real world and even when you go into your classes, and you realize how much you have actually taken away just from being on such a great team,” Plunkett said. “I feel like I get a first-hand look at what it takes to be so successful.”
Plunkett’s senior teammates Laura Clemente, Mary Kate Casey, Kristin McCandlish and Caitlin Jackson are in a similar position. That quartet has started a combined 20 games, which equals less than one full season. All but three of those starts have come this year. Yet, like Plunkett, they have no regrets about the decision they made.
The program’s unparalleled success is a major reason why. There is no other school in the country that each could have gone to and won one national championship to date, let alone three.
“Honestly, I just like winning,” McCandlish said. “I don’t think I would have wanted to go to a school even if I did get more playing time earlier on if I wasn’t going to be on a good team.”
And even though they have not gotten as many opportunities to start, they have still become better players than they might have been elsewhere.
The saying goes that you have to play the best to be the best, and working out against the Cats’ top-ranked offense and second-ranked defense on a daily basis speeds up that process.
“Coming here has made me the best player I could have been just because of the competition in practice,” said McCandlish, whose sister was a member of NU’s first two title-winning squads. “Not everyone gets to play against Hannah Nielsen every day.”
Amonte Hiller and the rest of the coaching staff also create an unrivaled learning environment, drawing on their own decorated playing days.
“They bring a very different and innovative style to lacrosse,” Casey said. “They’re always trying to figure out what’s new, what’s going to help us have an edge over anyone else.”
Casey was originally recruited by Division I schools to play basketball, but ended up switching to lacrosse after advice from one of her high school coaches during her junior year.
Being selfless is not always easy. So to have a group of seniors who embody that quality and can convey it to the underclassmen makes Amonte Hiller’s job easier.
“The fact that they buy into our system and are positive about the program and spread their knowledge to the younger players – to have great leadership in that area makes a huge difference,” Amonte Hiller said.
These seniors graduate in June and most likely will pursue jobs that utilize their respective degrees more than their lacrosse skills.
But they can apply the general lessons – be it the importance of sacrificing for the team, a strong work ethic or just an optimistic outlook – to whatever the future holds.
“The number one thing that I’ve learned is to have a positive attitude throughout all different circumstances,” Plunkett said. “That’s something that Kelly’s taught me, and I don’t think any other coach or any other group of girls would have been able to teach me that lesson.”
