Pretty soon, Peabody’s Olivia LaValle will report to Officer Training School at the Marine Corps Base in Quantico, Virginia. Before that happens, however, she’s looking for a few good saves.
A senior goalie for the Worcester State women’s lacrosse team, LaValle helped the Lancers make history with their first-ever MASCAC conference championship last weekend. By making 10 saves in the title game, plus 15 more in the semifinals, she was chosen as MASCAC tournament MVP and leads the team into its first Division 3 NCAA tournament game this weekend against Babson.
“It’s been the craziest couple of weeks of my life, to be honest,” said LaValle, who was also named First Team All-Conference and made her 400th career save. “The wins, the records, the awards, the history … I wasn’t expecting any of it. I went on the field thinking hard work pays off, you’re here for a reason and show why you’re here.”
Two years ago, LaValle thought she was done with lacrosse … but it turned out that lacrosse wasn’t done with her.
After a tough experience at another college program, she transferred to a commuter school to concentrate on her studies in criminal justice and psychology. A text message from her friend and former Peabody High teammate Jordyn Collins changed her life — and wound up changing the course of Worcester State women’s lax history.
“I never expected to play again and out of the blue Jordyn told coach (Kelly Downs) about me, and then they wanted me to play,” said LaValle. “I talked to Fish (McKayla Fisher, another Peabody alum playing for WSU), too. Having two of my best friends from high school telling me about how great the atmosphere at Worcester was made is make sense for me.
“Because I did miss lacrosse,” she added. “I missed the team part of the game, feeling like you have a family where you have their back and they have yours. And we definitely have that on this team.”
LaValle stepped in and made 143 saves as a junior, stopping 42.6 percent of the shots she saw. As a senior, she’s been ever better by saving 51 percent of the shots against her.
Consider that she first played goalie in 8th grade because her team didn’t have one, only tried out for high school as a goalie because she wasn’t sure she’d make the cut as a field player, then lost her entire junior season and half her senior year to the pandemic. That journey makes her rise to become one of the top D3 college goalies in New England meteoric.
“I try to have a next shot mentality, because lacrosse is a very high scoring game. Goals are always going to be scored and you have to be ready for the next one,” said LaValle. “One of the best pieces of advice I ever got was to always think like a goldfish; they have a memory of like six seconds, so if something bad happens, forget it. Goldfish it and focus on the next shot.”
The MASCAC championship game might well have been held at Coley Lee Field with all the Tanners competing. Framingham State was led by MASCAC Offensive Player of the Year Hailey Baker while the Lancers were paced by LaValle, Fisher (a first-team All-MASCAC choice with 64 ground balls plus 34 goals) and Collins (an All-MASCAC second team defender).
As the time ticked down and Worcester State held on to a two goal lead, LaValle kept her mind on the task at hand.
“I was very much thinking it was a 0-0 game,” she said. “Early in the game I was definitely getting pelted but my defense is the best about listening to what I’m seeing. We work so well together that it makes it easy to focus on that next play once we talk things out.”
LaValle, 21, likes to study film of her opponents to try to learn which players favor side-arm or bounce shots. She’ll try to scout out whether an opponent is more likely to shoot or pass from a certain spot, too. Ranking second on her team with 50 ground balls, she’s not shy about getting aggressive on the ball when needed.
“Another bit of advice I lean on is doing what I can to slow the game down,” said LaValle. “It’s so fast-paced that if I can get the ball and take those 10 seconds to slow it down, give my mids a chance to catch their breath and then move the ball up, that’s really important.”
On the heels of her best-ever season of lacrosse, LaValle’s getting ready for the next chapter of her life as she becomes an officer in the United States Marine Corps. She couldn’t pass up the chance to serve her country and gain experience in the criminal justice world — and just like Worcester State, odds are the USMC will be glad she came.