Meriden
Braswell, of Plainfield, on Friday signed a national letter of intent to play women’s lacrosse at High Point (N.C.) University, suiting up for the NCAA Division I Panthers on a partial athletic scholarship.
An attack who teammates and coaches say is one of the most reliable Wildcats on the field, Braswell nearly committed to the University of New Hampshire, where her mother, Holly, attended and where her older brother, Hunter, is a sophomore business major.
“(UNH recruiters had) seen a video of me and offered for me to play for them, and it certainly would have been the most comfortable, safe option,” Braswell said prior to Tuesday’s practice at sunsplashed Pope Field, where KUA was preparing for this afternoon’s game at Deerfield (Mass.) Academy. “I’d visited High Point during (2015) spring break and really liked it, so right before signing with UNH, I emailed (Panther coaches) to make sure they wouldn’t have an opening for me. They said, ‘You’ve got to come to our winter camp,’ so I did.”
Braswell impressed High Point head coach Lyndsey Boswell and assistant Christina Sheridan last December and was recruited on the spot. Boswell, the inaugural coach for a program that recently concluded its sixth varsity season, admired Braswell’s tireless work rate along with her demonstration of power and speed. Some of those attributes carry over from Braswell’s experience playing soccer and ice hockey, both of which she began playing long before lacrosse.
“Her work ethic definitely stood out,” said Boswell, whose team fell in Saturday’s Big South championship game at top-seeded Winthrop, 10-7. “She also has very impressive hand-eye coordination, which probably comes from hockey. We could tell that she has the potential to be an impactful player, score goals and create opportunities for our offense.”
That’s a priority for the Panthers, who — despite returning 24 of 32 letterwinners next season — are losing four attackmen to graduation, including leading scorers Emily Meier (32 goals, 37 assists—69 points) and Allie Foard (48-5—53).
“She’ll have the chance to see some playing time right off the bat,” Boswell said. “It always comes down to how much work the players are willing to put in, but it will be a good opportunity for her.”
If Braswell’s body of work in Meriden is any indication, appropriate effort won’t be an issue down south. Her soccer coach, Dan Weintraub, praised her seamless shifting from striker to midfielder last fall, filling in for an injured teammate and playing a key role in neutralizing Brewster’s Liz Lane. who is UNH-bound, in the NEPSAC Class C playoffs.
Braswell is a hard-charging force on the lacrosse pitch, using her instinctive field vision to create lanes for the offense.
Her 18 goals and seven assists place her third among Wildcat scorers, yet her ability in transition with and without the ball is what renders her most valuable.
“She loves the sport, loves playing with the ball and plays with a lot of intensity,” Kimball Union coach Barb Pollard said. “A lot of times, she starts the play in transition that leads to goals.”
Braswell, who grew up on Main Street in Plainfield, was first enamored with ice hockey, having played for the Twin Valley Flyers youth teams from the moment she learned to skate and suiting up for the organization’s first all-girls team while still a student at Plainfield School. She’d also been playing soccer since early in elementary school.
In eighth grade, Braswell joined the youth lacrosse program in Lebanon largely because many of her friends did. She enjoyed the game enough to choose it for her spring sport at Kimball Union, but without any serious intentions toward the sport.
That changed under the tutelage of Pollard, a former University of Delaware attack whose first year leading the Wildcats’ junior varsity team coincided with Braswell’s freshman year. When Pollard took the varsity coaching job two years later, Braswell took the leap as well, playing varsity for the first time as a junior.
“It was kind of like, ‘OK, we’re going to varsity together,’ ” said Pollard, who originally didn’t intend to apply for the job. “At that point, she was starting to realize that lacrosse was the sport for her.”
Braswell credits Pollard and assistant coach Erin Mellow with fostering that enthusiasm, and is unhesitant when asked what lured her toward immersion in the game.
“It was the coaches,” Braswell said. “Certain coaches just make you want to go all in, and that was definitely the case for me here.”
Braswell’s teammates perhaps benefit most from her love of the game. Kate Fowler, the team’s goalie, always feels comfortable when Braswell has the ball in her stick.
“People think she’s going to High Point because she scores a lot of goals, but it’s really because of everything else she does,” Fowler said. “Most of the time when we score, she’s setting up the plays.”
Fowler is also headed to the Tarheel State next year, recruited to play soccer for D-I Elon University. The other two seniors on the Wildcats’ girls lacrosse team — Miranda Judd, of Lebanon, and Pollard’s daughter, Kelsey — will play college field hockey next year, Judd at Massachusetts’ Merrimack College and Pollard at St. Lawrence University in New York. All four are captains this spring for the Wildcats (4-6).
“It’s pretty cool to have all four seniors going on to play sports in college,” Barb Pollard said. “We’re really excited for them.”
Jared Pendak can be reached at jpendak@vnews.com or 603-727-3225.