Lion Heart: Glynn Keys Columbia's 4-0 Start
by Justin Feil | Special to Lacrosse Magazine Online
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| Holly Glynn attacks the cage Saturday during Columbia's
16-15 win over Marist in which she broke the school's record for
career goals. The Lions can improve to 5-0 for the first time in
school history with a win Tuesday over American. © Dennis Mullins |
Holly Glynn wanted the ball in sudden-death overtime.
Her Columbia teammates knew it. So did Marist, but the Red Foxes couldn't have done anything more as the senior attacker went to goal for the game-winner in Columbia's 16-15 win Saturday.
"They had four players in the box, and she found a way to finish," said Columbia head coach Keri Whitaker. "She finds a way."
Whitaker saw it in Glynn while coaching her at a Dartmouth summer camp. Glynn, a Waltham, Mass., resident, liked the way Whitaker coached. Whitaker liked Glynn's potential with the Lions.
"I also thought she was mean," Whitaker said. "Not dirty, but she had this temperament, the kind that competitive teams look for and the kind of temperament that most good attackers have."
Glynn has proven to be a great attacker for the Lions. She wears No. 1 fittingly, as she became Columbia's all-time leading scorer in the win over Marist with 105 career goals and counting. It's an achievement she may sit back and soak in some day, but she has bigger concerns.
"Right now," she said, "I'm concentrating more on getting that first Ivy League win."
To a competitor like Glynn, nothing has been tougher than some of Columbia's struggles. The Lions haven't had a .500 record since her freshman year. They went 5-10 overall in each of the past two seasons, and they have not won an Ivy League game in Glynn's first three seasons.
The Lions' last Ivy win came in 2005 against Harvard. During Glynn's time, they lost a pair of one-goal games in 2006 and another in 2007.
This year, she thinks, could be different. Glynn's fifth goal of the game against Marist gave the Lions their first 4-0 start since 2005. Columbia hosts American on Tuesday with the chance to be 5-0 for the first time in program history. The Lions welcome Cornell on Saturday to open Ivy play.
"It's been awesome," said Glynn, who is also just two points shy of Columbia's career record of 155. "It's really great, especially senior year. We've been working hard all four years, and it's nice to see it paying off."
The payoff started at the end of last season as the Lions beat Cal and Bucknell to finish strong. They have not lost since then.
"The attitude is totally different," Glynn said. "The atmosphere in the locker room and on the field, we never had confidence like this. We had it even before the games started.
"We've gone into games believing in ourselves this year."
Glynn is doing all that she can to help lift the Lions. She led the Ivy League in goals last year with 44, and already has 16, second only to teammate Brittany Shannon's 18. In addition to being tied with Shannon for the team lead in points, Glynn also is tied among Lion field players in ground balls, and leads the team in draw controls and caused turnovers.
"She causes a lot of turmoil," Whitaker said. "She's getting them all on pure hustle. I enjoy having her on our team quite a bit."
Said Glynn: "It's all part of the game. I try to contribute all over the field. It's not just about goals. It's about more than that."
But the Lions need those big goals too, and Holly Glynn is happy to provide them. She did so to finish off her junior year with a goal in the final minute to top Bucknell. Saturday's sudden-death game-winner over Marist was even more exciting, even if it wasn't that big of a surprise.
"I do like pressure," Glynn said. "When the game's on the line, I like having the ball."
