Though Ohio State women’s lacrosse lost to Vanderbilt Saturday, one player still had something to celebrate.
Senior Kelly Haggerty scored her 221st point, breaking OSU’s record for most career points.
“I was aware that I was kind of close to it and it was definitely something that I wanted to accomplish,” Haggerty said. “I didn’t really feel any pressure; I just played how I normally do.”
The record was previously held by Kristen Slahor, who also holds the career assists record.
Megan Mirick holds the record for most career goals.
Only two points away from breaking the record, Haggerty’s two assists in Saturday’s game put her over.
“Honestly breaking it didn’t even really faze me because we were losing against Vanderbilt and I was just more concentrated on that,” Haggerty said.
While the team was excited for its teammate’s opportunity to make OSU women’s lacrosse history, playing in the games leading up to the record breaking was business as usual.
“Our main focus is to win the game and to do what we need to do to win, so we never in situations change what we’re doing so that somebody can break a record,” coach Sue Stimmel said.
Vanderbilt defeated OSU 19-8, which put a damper on Haggerty’s achievement.
“I think we were focused more on what the team was doing and we were disappointed with that loss, so that was more of the thought for the day, unfortunately for Kelly,” Stimmel said.
Though under-celebrated by some, Haggerty’s record-setting performance did not go unnoticed.
“It’s great for Kelly,” Stimmel said. “She’s worked hard for four years and been a contributor all four years, so it’s a great achievement.”
Haggerty, who has played lacrosse since she was in seventh grade, has become an indispensable player to the Buckeyes.
“I think her overall performance has been good, like last year,” Stimmel said. “She’s leading the team in points so she’s a big contributor. I think she’s a little more challenged this year doing it because of her success last year. People are focused on her more and keying in on her more, so to obtain the same things as last year she’s got to work harder.”
Haggerty is modest about her success and attributes the season’s accomplishments to the team as a whole.
“I think we work really well together,” she said. “We kind of like feed off of each other so when one person’s playing well, it kind of has a domino effect and everyone starts playing well, which is really cool.”
The team has had its ups and downs through the season, but the players hope to finish the season strongly and perform well in the upcoming tournament that OSU will host.
“I think we’ve been playing pretty well so far,” Haggerty said. “Vanderbilt was definitely kind of a punch in the gut, but we still have some pretty big games coming up, so hopefully we can redeem ourselves.”
Though the team will practice hard for its remaining games, all expect great things from Haggerty.
“We have some tough games coming up, but Kelly’s always been consistent,” Stimmel said. “You know she’s going to score some points. I think some of these games we’re going to look at her to put up a few more, but she’s done that in the past.”