When Sara DiClemente was in the sixth grade, she was a field player on a youth boys lacrosse team.
“Our goalie wanted out, so I stepped in,” she recalled. “I only let in one goal. We ended up winning and it made me feel great knowing that the win had to do with me.”
Since that day, she hasn’t left the crease. Now a senior in high school, DiClemente has continued to win, playing at a higher level. Recently during Pinkerton Academy’s senior night, she broke the program’s all-time saves record of 415 held previously for the past 23 years by Greta Fredrickson.
DiClemente will enter Thursday’s NHIAA Division I playoff game against Bedford with 423 career saves.
“The save record means a lot to me,” she said. “Many people may not understand that because they aren’t goalies. Knowing that this record had been set for a little over 20 years and I was the one to break it was surreal. It was something that felt like a long shot, with minimal playing time my freshman year and only starting for three years 416 saves seemed like a lot.”
After volunteering to play goalie for the youth team, DiClemente also volunteered to be the goalie of the PA girls’ ice hockey team this past year.
“I have never really been afraid of the ball (or puck),” she said. “People always tell me it takes a different breed to be a goalie, and I believe that because it takes a lot to just step in front of that ball. I have some pretty gnarly bruises on my legs, but I see them as a reward because that means I stopped the ball.”
This season she has stopped 118 shots, while helping the Astros win 15 games. She’s hoping No. 16 comes Thursday.
“Facing Bedford will be a good challenge for us,” said the Auburn, N.H. resident. “They’re a great team and very well coached. We just need to go in guns blazing to secure the win, and play in the semi-finals on Saturday.”
Once this Astros’ season comes to an end, DiClemente will continue her love for stopping the ball, playing the next four years at Division 1 University of Coastal Carolina.
“Going to Coastal was always a dream of mine,” she said while noting that her father James played collegiate lacrosse at Salem State, her uncle played at University of Hartford and she has two younger siblings both playing.
“When I was younger, I was a cheerleader and always wanted to cheer (at Coastal Carolina). And as I started to take lacrosse more seriously and getting into recruiting, they were always on my radar. They have an amazing lacrosse program with amazing facilities, as they are the 2024 ASUN Champs.”