Athlete of the Week: Kelly Fucillo, Women’s Lacrosse
Juliana Moore, Staff Writer
March 29, 2012
Filed under Sports
The Scoop: Kelly Fucillo is a senior goalkeeper for the women’s lacrosse team here at Le Moyne. Her accomplishments include: MVP both her freshman and sophomore year and NE-10 Conference All-Tournament team as a junior.
How she got started in lacrosse: Fucillo started playing lacrosse in the West Genesee summer program as a fifth grader. However, her goalie skills are not limited to lacrosse.
“I was an ice hockey goalie since I was 7, so I thought lacrosse goalie would be fun,” Fucillo said. ”I played varsity women’s lacrosse and was on the boys’ varsity ice hockey team in high school. I’ve always played goalie in lacrosse because it was similar to hockey, and I thought I could be good at it.”
On the current season: Le Moyne’s women’s lacrosse team is currently ranked No. 1. Fucillo notes that even though the season is going great so far, the ‘Phins have to continue to keep their heads in the game.
“We are very focused, because we were so close to winning the championship last year and did not win. Our goal this year is to get back to the final four and win it this time,” Fucillo said.
Fun facts: Fucillo turns to music to get her pumped up for games.
“I like to listen to a specific playlist before every game.” She isn’t too reliant or superstitious about it, though. “If my iPod dies or something it doesn’t really bother me or anything,” she said.
Her teammates used to believe differently, she explained: “For the first few years I was on the team, my teammates thought that it was really serious for me to listen to my music and would warn each other against talking to me before games when my headphones were in.”
The team manages to keep themselves entertained on long bus rides, with a little help from the bus drivers.
“The best memory has been listening to Carlton, aka ‘C,’ the bus driver, rap while driving on the bus microphone,” Fucillo explained.
Plans after graduation: Fucillo is an English major with a concentration in elementary education.
As for her plans after graduation, she said, “Nothing is definite about next year, but hopefully it will involve some combination of teaching, coaching and/or grad school.”
Thank-you’s: Fucillo sends appreciation to her coaches and her teammates.
“I’ve been lucky to have had great coaches at all levels of the game. This year our team is playing great so far, and I feel really good about the team as a whole,” Fucillo said. “Our defense is the best in Division II and they rarely get enough notice because they don’t really show up in the box scores, so shout out to the D. They are obviously very important to any goalie’s success.”