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Photo by Jeremy Long
GOOD TO GO
LD grad says she ready to anchor LVC’s returning lacrosse team
by Jeremy Long
For The Press And Journal
: 3/10/2010
Spring is a time for rebirth, so it seems only fitting that Lebanon Valley College has reignited its lacrosse program this spring after a 25-year hiatus.
Leading the girls on the field is freshman goalie and 2009 Lower Dauphin High School graduate Erica Ameigh.
She picked up a lacrosse stick when she was in seventh grade at the urging of her brother, Kenny. She aggressively strives to improve her game, perhaps more so since Kenny’s death in 2004.
“He’s my motivation to keep playing,” she said. “It’s something I shared with him that I don’t with my other brothers. He got me into it so I keep playing as a way to honor him.”
You could argue that Ameigh’s brother knew his sister and lacrosse were meant for each other.
“I was finally good at a sport from the beginning and I just wanted to stick with it and get better,” said the Hummelstown resident.
The middle school had no women’s lacrosse program, so she was forced to play on the men’s team and endure the boys’ constant teasing.
But that only motivated her to get better.
“My coach told me ‘don’t listen to them. Just play like one of the boys. You can be better than them,’ ” she said. “That really helped.”
Ameigh lettered three times in lacrosse at LD, and was a Central Pennsylvania second-team all-star.
While men’s and women’s lacrosse are fundamentally the same; women’s lacrosse doesn’t encourage checking. But Ameigh likes the challenge of finding ways to bend the rules.
“It’s fun to find a way around the rules,” she said. “There are certain things – like when it comes to checking, you have to be so precise about it. You just find a way to bend the rules.”
A veteran of both men’s and women’s lacrosse, Ameigh believes women’s lacrosse is the more demanding of the two.
“There’s more finesse when playing girls’ lacrosse,” she said. “When the guys play you can run over a person to get the ball. It’s very rough.
Womens’ is more challenging because you have to dodge girls and weave in and out of them,” she said.
Being a freshman starting goalkeeper can be daunting for most people, but not Ameigh. She faced that fear long ago when she was playing for Lower Dauphin.
She was a 15-year-old sophomore when she was sent up to the varsity ranks.
“I was so scared,” she admitted. “The girls were 8 feet tall and the ball was the size of a basketball. We ended up losing the game but not that badly. That’s when I realized that I could do this.”
And Lebanon Valley’s coach, Brianne Tierney, is glad Ameigh conquered that fear.
“It’s great to have an experienced goal keeper anchoring our team,” she said.
The young goalkeeper is already showing the makings of a good leader. The team is young and inexperienced but that doesn’t bother her.
She is expecting better teams to beat them. Her goal isn’t to bring home a NCAA championship. Instead, she’s focused on building a dynasty at LVC.
“We can create a foundation for a strong team,” she said.
That’s why Ameigh chose LVC.
“I wanted to start with a new program so we could all grow together and inspire more people to come out for it,” she said.
Ameigh knows it’s going to be a tough season when they have to face teams like Messiah College. But she said the team will be defined by how it handles those losses.
“There is a point where you’re tired of losing,” she said. “But it’s at that point where you have to buckle down and work harder to overcome that morale drop.
And if you do, that is what makes you the better team no matter what the score.”
Even though she has years of experience, Ameigh knows she still has room to grow and improve.
“The hardest part [of lacrosse] is the best part. It’s very independent,” she said. “You can be coached how to play goalie but in the end you need to figure out what works for you. You have to motivate yourself to get better and constantly go out and practice on your own.”
And she wouldn’t have it any other way. When Ameigh is in her crease she is in her own little world.
“Being goalie you are the last defender and you have to be confident in yourself,” she said. “You have to have that confidence that you can change the flow of the game. It’s a lot of pressure but it’s a great feeling when you make a save, clear it out and your team scores and you were a part of it.”
Contact Jeremy Long at longjeremym@gmail.com.
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