Palmucci's Skill, Speed a 'Steal' for UConn Lacrosse

As the Oakton High girls lacrosse team  on the field at Westfield High, Carly Palmucci remembers looking at her teammates and thinking, "I'm really glad I'm playing in college."

Palmucci, 18, of Herndon, will play next year for the University of Connecticut, a decision she made public at a . 

She began playing lacrosse in third grade — without much fanfare because of the sports' lack of popularity — with Cougar teammate Allison Turk. Later in elementary school, , , Claire Stikeleather and other future Cougars joined them in the Chantilly Youth Association. In seventh grade, Palmucci and Rupp made the cut for the Maryland and District of Columbia Lacrosse Club, the most elite girls lacrosse team in the region and one of the best in the country.

She has built an impressive résumé, with 189 goals and 178 assists in the past three years as lead-scorer for the Oakton Cougars. A two-time U.S. Lacrosse All-American, ESPN Rise All-American, Offensive Player of the Year in both the Concorde District and Northern Region in 2012, and All-Met honors the past two years, Palmucci ranked 48th nationally on ESPN Rise's 2011 list and in the top 40 for Inside Lacrosse Magazine in 2012.

"I don't want to take all the work that I've done and just throw it away in college. I love lacrosse, I really do enjoy it," Palmucci said. "I'm really glad I'm playing in college. I wouldn't be able to finish now. I'm just not done."

Though she dabbled in other sports as a child, Palmucci found it was a lacrosse stick she wanted to carry around with her everywhere, not a soccer ball. She became more and more involved in the sport, not realizing just how serious she had become until her CYA team won the state championship game when she was in eighth grade.

"That was when all of us started to take it really seriously. People always told us we were good, but we didn't realize how good we were because it was like, our parents," Palmucci laughed. "We just thought of it as like a fun sport. Then we got to Oakton and all five of us [Palmucci, Turk, Revel, Rupp and Stikeleather] made varsity as freshmen. From then on, we were like, 'Oh OK, I guess we can do this.'"

Scott Robinson, Palmucci's head coach with M&D for the past four years, distinctly remembers her tryout because of her quickness.

"We had an established team and she impressed us right away at the tryouts. But she got better and better every year," Robinson said. "She's an absolute steal for UConn."

Though highly recruited for college, Robinson said many coaches worried about Palmucci's small size. 

"I never did. She's a great, accurate shooter. And her speed helps her get the shot off, and when she gets the opening, she has a very accurate shot," Robinson said. "Her size doesn't matter, not with the way she plays."

Her speed also stood out to Kathleen Woods, head coach at UConn, but it was her lacrosse know-how that made her a top recruit in their 2013 class.

"I think, for me, the excitement behind Carly is her ability to read the game and understand what she needs to do to make sure her team is successful," Woods said. "I definitely think she has the potential to really make our attack fun, dynamic and creative. We're excited because I think she has that 'It Factor.' She's a freshman, so she's going to be eyes wide open and all of that, but we're going to work with her to try to make the transition go smoothly so we can see where we can take her game as quickly as this year."

Palmucci has already done some homework for next year, studying the UConn offense and scoping out her fellow recruits to see how she will fit in with the team. After developing a comfort with playing with many of the same girls since her childhood, Palmucci knows she'll have to put in the work to develop a rapport on the field with her fellow Huskies.

"I think it'll be good, though. There's one girl who plays like Jackie, and midfielders who can play the style I like to play," Palmucci said. "I'm excited to play with these girls and see what we can do for UConn's program."

To read about other local athletes who have committed to college programs, click here.

Get daily and breaking news email updates from Oakton Patch by signing up for newsletters here.