DERRY, N.H. – Jaelyn Crossman has been involved with field hockey for as long as she can remember.
Her mother, Erin, was a star at Southern Connecticut State, leading the team in scoring all four years.
“I began playing when I was six years old, my mom was my coach,” said Crossman with a laugh. “I’ve been loving it ever since, and it’s been everything I could have asked for.”
It’s safe to say that the field hockey bloodline carried over to Jaelyn, and the eye-popping numbers from her senior campaign show it.
This year, in just 18 games, Crossman lit up the stat sheets, leading the Astros with 33 goals, breaking the Pinkerton single-season record.
For her four-year career, Crossman is up to 81 goals, trouncing over the previous record of 58.
On Saturday afternoon in the NHIAA Division 1 quarterfinals against No. 12 Salem, Crossman did it all for No. 4 Pinkerton, assisting on the Astros late first-half goal and netting the game winner in the waning minutes of the fourth quarter, to push the Astros to a 2-1 victory.
“I was trying to make sure that we would get shots on post, but I was obviously hoping that the shot would go in,” said Crossman. “I was hoping that one of my teammates would tip it in, but a goal is a goal.”
“Jaelyn is phenomenal, she’s come through for us multiple times,” added Pinkerton coach Jennifer Resmini.
With Pinkerton moving onto the New Hampshire semifinals, the senior is well aware that it won’t be easy to find a victory.
“We’re going to have to practice hard, and work on plenty of drills,” said Crossman. “We have to do everything we can to find a win on Wednesday, and keep this season alive.”
Next fall, Crossman will be headed to continue her academic and athletic career at Quinnipiac, a school that she’s always dreamt of playing at.
“I had many years of going through the recruiting process and talking with different schools, but ultimately, Quinnipiac has been my dream home for years,” said Crossman. “I’m glad I ended up there.”
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