AVRIL KING
Social Media Manager and Assistant Sports Editor
The Fredonia women’s lacrosse team saw two victories in their last few games, prior to closing out their regular season. And after a long and difficult season, they were certainly met with a large amount of excitement.
However, there were some players on the team that shined brighter than others in those last matches.
Throughout the course of the season, psychology major Nicole Burrows broke three school records, starting with the team’s first win over New Paltz on Saturday, April 21. Burrows made 28 saves, breaking Fredonia’s single-game team record.
“I was actually pretty shocked when I was told after the game how many saves I had,” she said. “I’ve always been really bad at guessing how many I had, and I honestly didn’t even think I was close to breaking it, but I was so excited and couldn’t believe it.”
What did not shock the senior athlete, however, was the win. Despite the team’s 0-12 record walking onto the field that day, Burrows was confident in her team’s abilities.
“It has been a very tough season and we all wanted to at least have one win to end the season,” she said. “Based on my past experiences playing SUNY New Paltz, I knew that if we worked hard and put in all our effort, we could come out of the game with a win. It was definitely a team effort, and everyone was needed that day to win.”
A few days later, after competing against and beating D’Youville, the Blue Devils claimed their second win of the season, and Burrows shattered another record, this time for most saves in a career.
This game boosted her total saves to 593, beating the previous record, which was held by Casey Chiesa (2010-2013), by two. In the team’s last game versus SUNY Oneonta, she boosted this number to 612 saves.
By making the most saves in two consecutive games in the program’s history against Alleghany and Cortland earlier in the season (38 saves), Burrows now holds three school records in total.
“She has really stepped up to help the team this year,” said Olivia Miller, junior exercise science major and Burrows’ teammate. “It has been a hard season, but she plays hard every single game.”
And this has been true since the very beginning of Burrows’ career in lacrosse.
First picking up a lacrosse stick when she was in seventh grade, she was originally a soccer player, but after some coaxing from her coach, she decided to try lacrosse.
“I fell in love with the sport,” said Burrows. “This is my tenth year playing.”
Now, despite her senior season being over, she plans on continuing her involvement with lacrosse by moving back to her home of Baldwinsville, N.Y. and helping to coach her high school team.
Besides this, Burrows plans on attending Medaille College in the fall to get a degree in veterinary technology and eventually become a vet technician. She will also be busy for the next few months planning her wedding, which is set to occur Feb. of 2019.
Miller is already thinking about how unusual the next season will be without her.
“I think Sophie [Jones] will step up big time, but it will definitely be a different feeling not having [Nicole] behind me,” she said.
Yet, Burrows is looking forward to her life post-graduation, and her teammates are excited to see where she goes from here.