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.”
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?’”