Oct. 3, 2008
by Matt DaSilva, Lacrosse Magazine Online Staff
Vanderbilt women's lacrosse coach Cathy Swezey would rather recruit good players from great high school programs than perhaps better players from the middle of the pack. "They just have a different drive," she says.
In Allyson Carey, Swezey secured the best of both worlds.
Widely regarded as the top recruit in the nation, Carey, the former John Carroll (Md.) and 2007 U.S. U-19 team standout, has all the physical tools to be an instant force in college. Vanderbilt could use the infusion of talent, considering it graduated six seniors - including first-team All-American defender Sasha Cielak, second-team All-American attacker Margie Curran and starting goalie Brooke Shinaberry - following a first-round loss to Princeton in the NCAA Division I tournament.
Countdown caught up with Swezey to gauge her expectations for the freshman sensation and the Commodores in 2009.
Looking for college freshmen that could have instant impact in 2009, Ally Carey stood out to us. How about you?
We obviously think she has exceptional potential. We try to recruit kids with character. I think she's got a lot of maturity, outside of her obvious athletic ability. We graduated a large senior class. We anticipate her making an impact on the field immediately.
At 5-foot-8, she doesn't come off as imposing, but she bullied for draws and ground balls and seemed pretty unstoppable at U-19s in Peterborough, Ontario. Is that what you noticed in her?
She has an absolute presence. You can't miss her on the field. Whether fighting for loose balls or draw controls, controlling the offense or just on defense, she has an intimidating presence. I've thought that since the first time I watched her. She's just always looked like she's the only one on the field, even though there are 23 other people.
Were you surprised to see how big she plays for 5-8?
It seems unique. Her physical athletic presence showed up so much sooner than a lot of girls. She's just an athletic specimen - one in a million that you find.
How does that translate to 2009?
I don't anticipate freshman jitters from Ally. She's got great humility. This is a kid that has tremendous ability. Everybody was interested in recruiting her, and she never let it go to her head. I think she'll come out here knowing she's got to compete like everybody else.
A banner year for Vanderbilt was 2004, with a final four run. Four years went by for that next recruiting class that came close, but was unable to replicate that level of success. Is it time to rebuild?
Hopefully not rebuilding, that's the thing we want to avoid. I think that we had a very talented and experienced defense [in '08]. They knew each others' weaknesses and strengths and backed each other up so well. As great as they were, though, they were injured all four years. Looking forward, we're trying to get a little more aggressive on defense. I want to improve our depth at midfield, and we have quite a bit of offense returning despite graduating Margie Curran.
What will be Vanderbilt's identity?
I think we're one of those teams that's known to have a defense that sits on the 8-meter and protects it, but doesn't take chances outside. I think we're going to throw a wrench into that. I think we can afford to take some chances.
What about the team make-up?
We're going to be very young. [Junior] Alex Mundy is our only returning starter on defense - she's one of the fastest kids I've ever seen. She's not a bad person to have back there, but losing Leslie [Koch], Michele [Slotke] and Sasha [Cielak] is going to be rough.
Who will vie to replace Brooke Shinaberry, a four-year starter in the cage?
We have a senior named Rachel Woolford who has been patiently waiting behind Brooke for three years. She's been a great practice player and did a great job pushing Brooke. Brooke was just that good. There's also a freshman from Annapolis, Natalie Wills, who had a great senior year at St. Mary's High School.
So Carey's not the only gem of this freshman class?
We're pretty psyched about this class. We've got Alex Priddy (Davidson, Md./Archbishop Spaulding) coming out of midfield, Courtney Kirk from Baltimore out of Roland Park. And then a neat thing - two girls, the Connors twins Kacie and Kelly coming out of Radnor that won Pennsylvania state championships. There's Hannah Clark coming out of New Jersey (Chatham) - she played in a state championship - and Kendall Pittinger from Severna Park (Md.)
These are kids with individual accolades coming from teams with a lot of success. There's something there. Once you get a taste of winning, you never want to go back. Sometimes the good kids on great teams are better than the best kids on bad teams. They just have a different drive.
Carey led John Carroll to a Maryland private school championship. Best of both worlds?
With Ally, yeah, you get all of it. I don't think anybody will deny she's the total package.
Countdown to '09: Archive
Sept. 26, 2008 - Mercyhurst's Chris Ryan
Sept. 19, 2008 - NYIT's Keith Henderson
Sept. 5, 2008 - Northwestern's Kelly Amonte Hiller
Aug. 29, 2008 - Cabrini's Scott Reimer
Aug. 15, 2008 - Hobart's T.W. Johnson
Aug. 8, 2008 - Penn's Ali Deluca
Aug. 1, 2008 - Chapman's Mike Wood
July 25, 2008 - Southern New Hampshire's Mary Squire
July 18, 2008 - Michigan's Trevor Yealy
July 11, 2008 - Johns Hopkins' Dave Pietramala
July 4, 2008 - Hamilton's Kallie Briscoe
June 27, 2008 - North Carolina's Joe Breschi
June 20, 2008 - Colby's Jon Thompson
