The script for Kelli McGroarty’s first lacrosse game in three years might have been tossed out of a Hollywood studio for being too unrealistic.

Between the pipes in a game for the first time since the New Jersey state championship game in 2019, McGroarty withstood a freak blizzard and three overtimes to make 10 saves as La Salle upset Mount St. Mary’s last Saturday.

“There was this huge gust of snow,” McGroarty remembered. “One time it was coming directly at my face. I was like, ‘This makes it even better.’”

McGroarty, a lifelong midfielder who converted to goalie in 10th grade at Eastern Regional High School (N.J.), lost her senior season to COVID-19. She then went to La Salle to be a forward and midfielder on the women’s soccer team that uncharacteristically played its season in the spring of 2020 — another instance in which COVID-19 impacted McGroarty’s athletic career.

A freshman at the time, McGroarty had contemplated trying to walk on the lacrosse team. With soccer in the spring, that notion was impossible. But when soccer returned to its regularly scheduled fall slate in 2021, the door was open for a return.

She caught the lacrosse bug again after going back to watch her old high school team play. It was then she knew that it was time to strap on the goalie pads once more. She texted her father to make sure it was OK that she pursue a second sport. Once he approved, McGroarty drafted an email to coach Katie Rhodes Abbott, showed it to her father to proofread and sent it along.

“Kelli reached out to me in the summer,” Rhodes Abbott said. “Her coach from high school is a coach that I’ve gotten to know pretty well through recruiting. She’s somebody I trust a lot when it comes to getting input on players. She was like, ‘Kelli’s legit. I think she has a lot of potential to be very good.’

“Once Kelli was done with soccer this year, I had our assistant, Devon Scharf, run out and get a gauge on her.”

Scharf’s review was glowing. Almost hyperbolic. She was blown away at McGroarty’s athleticism and reported back to Rhodes Abbott. La Salle didn’t necessarily need another goalie — junior Julia Dellaratta was the incumbent starter and freshman Casey Gallagher was on hand as a backup — but McGroarty was too good to let walk.

The rust was evident, at least at first. McGroarty focused heavily on soccer in her hiatus from the lacrosse field, and for good reason. She was the New Jersey Girls’ Soccer Gatorade Player of the Year in 2018 and 2019. Her No. 10 jersey is already retired at Eastern Regional. She holds high school program records in points (275), career goals (108), goals in a season (40) and points in a season (100).

But playing goal truly was like riding a bike — even if a blizzard quickly added another wrinkle to her debut.

“It felt a lot easier in the game,” McGroarty said. “When you’re in practice, you’re getting ripped with so many shots throughout, and Devon’s got a sidearm cannon warming me up. Having constant shots in practice, when I got in the game, the ball just seemed slower.”

Sometimes the stats surface really cool stories. As far as I can tell from the @LaSalleLacrosse website, Kelli McGroarty, who is a goalkeeper on the LaSalle soccer team, was playing her first game in net as a lacrosse goalie. And she's the third star...crazy. https://t.co/fYAeVyKV31

— Lacrosse Reference (@laxreference) February 20, 2022

Dellaratta started the game and made four saves in the first half. It wasn’t as if the coaching staff was looking to make a change based on performance. But Rhodes Abbott had a hunch.

“My gut just said to go with it,” she said.

So in came McGroarty for the second half. The first shot she faced was a goal by Mount’s Dani Donoghue. On the next shot, McGroarty got her stick to the ball and made a save. Less than two minutes later, she made another. She saved a free position attempt and the ensuing attempt off the rebound later in the third period, too.

That was just a taste of things to come. McGroarty made three saves across three overtime periods, the last of which turned into the game-winning goal by Emily Johnston.

“I love games like that,” McGroarty said. “I love the high stakes games and extreme pressure. The more stuff that’s pinned up against you, the more glory of the story.”

Rhodes Abbott leaned on the same goalie strategy for the next game, a 14-9 loss to Delaware. Dellaratta started and made four saves before yielding to McGroarty for the second half. She made another eight stops and allowed just five goals.

Don’t be fooled by the insane start to her college lacrosse career, though. This is only McGroarty’s third year in goal and first since 2019. She’s the first to admit there’s much more to learn.

“I’m still learning about lacrosse,” she said. “I was at dinner with a few of my friends the other day, and I was like, ‘Can you explain all that?’”