This article appears in the March 2020 edition of US Lacrosse Magazine. Don’t get the mag? Head to USLacrosse.org to subscribe.

Alyssa Parrella first harnessed her speed sprinting down the runway. For a gymnast — specifically one who vaults — speed is paramount. The momentum built during the 82-foot dash allows an athlete to reach the springboard with stored potential energy. But that’s just half the battle.

The gymnast must then use his or her lower body to propel off the springboard and then the vault, tucking and flipping in midair before landing safely upon the mat.

Parrella was a gymnast for 10 years, moving on when she was 13 to pursue team sports like field hockey and lacrosse. She had become a Level 10 gymnast, the highest designation in the USA Gymnastics Junior Olympics program.

Perhaps that combination of speed and power has something to do with her meteoric ascension in women’s lacrosse. She’s now a senior at Hofstra, getting ready to rewrite the Colonial Athletic Association record book.

“Being a gymnast, you have to be very focused and very driven,” Pride coach Shannon Smith said. “You have to be disciplined. You have to have that self-accountability. When Alyssa makes a mistake, she’s very accountable.”

Alyssa’s mother, Gina, said her youngest child always had a competitive fire.

“But on the other hand, she’s very sensitive,” Gina Parrella said. “She’s hard on herself. Most things come easy to her athletically, but when she plays, she just wants to do well. She’ll just stay at something until she sees perfection.”

While Parrella has had to work on a few lacrosse-specific skills — the sidearm shot around the cage is still one she’s dead set on mastering — speed and power have always come naturally. Smith called her “one of the best cutters I’ve ever seen in my life.”

Smith coached Parrella, a Miller Place (N.Y.) native, on the Long Island Top Guns. Without the club scene, Parrella might not have received attention as a recruit. Even though she brimmed with untapped potential, Parrella’s Miller Place High School team was never one to compete for county championships. In Parrella’s five years on varsity, the Panthers only made the playoffs once, their lone appearance coming during her senior year.

Parrella said her familiarity with Smith wasn’t the only reason she chose the school roughly 50 miles from her hometown. Her older sister, Tiana, was a senior at Hofstra during Alyssa’s freshman season.

“I’m very much a homebody,” Parrella said. “I wanted to be somewhere it was easy for my parents and grandparents to come see me play.”

And who would have thought her family would witness one of the CAA’s all-time great careers?

“I was surprised at myself, and not to the point that I didn’t think I’d be able to do it, but more that I didn’t realize how quickly I’d absorb everything thrown at me,” said Parrella, who set the CAA single-season record with 85 goals last year. She’s also 33 goals and 65 points away from setting CAA career records. She already holds Hofstra records for goals (189) and points (261).

“She’s going to be one of the best players to ever wear that Hofstra jersey,” Smith said. “And she’s going to give that future recruit something to chase.”

Parrella’s father, Cosmo, thinks she was overlooked in high school. He might be right. But Parrella never complained. Instead, she enjoyed honing her craft.

When Gina Parrella tried to answer a question about her daughter’s favorite non-sports hobbies, working out was the first thing that came to mind. “Well, I guess that’s basically a sport,” she said with a laugh.

Parrella’s success isn’t a surprise to those close to her. The accolades were unexpected, sure, but her talent was never in doubt.

Except, maybe, to her.

“If you asked me this when I was a freshman walking in … this was not what I expected at all,” she said. “I’ve been learning from Shannon since I was in middle school. When I step in her office or on the field, every single day I learn something new.”

By all accounts, Parrella is a quick study. She’ll grasp a concept within minutes, then spend hours working to perfect it. For that reason, coaching staffs spend hours game planning for the Pride, who have renewed hopes of taking down James Madison and winning the conference.

“Before the game even starts, Alyssa has already taken over because in the opposing coach’s office, they’re already focused on trying to stop No. 7,” Smith said.

Few have proven capable of doing so. Like a gymnast’s approach down the runway, Parrella is coming for the record books — fast.