Liz O'Sullivan moved to the lacrosse town of New Canaan, Connecticut when she was in the fifth grade. She stepped into the cage at age 10, realized her love for the sport at age 12, and never looked back.
“I loved it from the start, and I still love it,” said O'Sullivan. “It was my childhood dream to play at a high level. For as far back as I can remember, it was the one thing I really had a passion for.”
O'Sullivan continued to develop her skills at New Canaan High School, where she was named a three-time All-Connecticut State and All-Fairfield County Interscholastic Conference goalkeeper selection after leading the Rams to a 76-14 record and three state championships over her four-year career.
When all was said and done, the 2013 High School All-American First Teamer and ESPN's #2 goalkeeper recruit was following in her father's footsteps and heading to the University of Notre Dame.
O'Sullivan played two seasons for the Fighting Irish between 2014-15. She won the starting job between the pipes toward the end of her freshman season and went on to start all 20 games as a sophomore, when she racked up 11 wins that included a resounding pair of victories over Ohio State in the 2015 NCAA Tournament First Round and over Virginia in the 2015 ACC Tournament Quarterfinals.
“It was challenging and was a full-time job,” said O'Sullivan on playing for the nationally-ranked program. “Experiences like beating Virginia twice on their field and beating Syracuse in the Carrier Dome in overtime will stay with me forever. It was that feeling of setting a goal and reaching it. Experiences like that will help me while I'm here at St. Joe's, to help our program have more of those types of moments.”
An injury sidelined O'Sullivan for the 2016 season, and in focusing on her academics, she worked her way into a December 2016 graduation, an entire semester early.
With two seasons of eligibility remaining, a graduate degree to begin, and 746 miles separating her from her family, O'Sullivan made a decision to leave South Bend, Indiana and begin a new journey. And, after a few visits, O'Sullivan found a new home - on Hawk Hill.
“The biggest reason for leaving Notre Dame was to be able to finish my lacrosse career close to home,” explained O'Sullivan. “My family will be able to drive down here and watch me play. That was a big reason for my decision.”
“I love this team,” added O'Sullivan. “On my visits, we really clicked. It was a family at Notre Dame, and it is a family here. It has been awesome getting to know so many new people. Mallory [Grey] has shown me the ropes, and it has been cool to go through this experience with someone else.”
“She has fit in effortlessly,” said Grey, a fellow graduate student and co-captain of the squad. “It has been such a smooth transition. It is awesome to have somebody with that kind of experience, somebody who can teach us what it's like to be at that level of competition. At the same time, she is very grounded and humble.”
It also didn't hurt that when considering her options, O'Sullivan recognized that in committing to the SJU lacrosse program, she would be given the opportunity to learn from one of the best goalkeepers to ever play the game in third-year head coach Alex Kahoe, a three-time All-American and two-time NCAA Goalkeeper of the Year while at Maryland from 1995-2000.
“I couldn't turn down an opportunity to learn from her,” said O'Sullivan. “I'm excited to take in what she knows about the position and learn from her every day.”
“Liz brings a level of experience, energy, and leadership that is very valuable and will help enhance our team,” said Kahoe. “Our team has been in a really good place coming off of A-10s last spring, and our freshmen have added more depth and intensity to practice. Now, adding Liz mid-year gives our team this new boost of confidence as we prepare for the season. A huge strength of hers is that she is such a hard worker and wants to continually grow. The experience and talent is there, but she also wants to develop and be the best she can be. She is as excited for this opportunity as we are to have her here.”
O'Sullivan joins an SJU squad that reached the A-10 postseason tournament for just the third time in program history and for the first time since 2009 last season, a team that won nine games and finished in a tie for second in the A-10 regular season when it was predicted to finish eighth.
The program is undeniably led by its seniors - attackers Nora McCallion and Sarah Smith, midfielders Maggie Egan and Grey, and defenders Taylor Dachowski, Becky Daub, and Maura Monti.
“The senior class has built this program so much,” said O'Sullivan. “I just want to help them and lead this team in whatever way I can. There are unreal athletes on this team, and with the leadership from our captains, Mal and Nora, I'm excited for where this team can go. There is experience now, and I'm just trying to take all of the experience I've gained and apply it here.”
And the end goal?
“I want an Atlantic 10 Championship,” said O'Sullivan with a smile. “It is such a realistic goal. I don't care what it looks like individually, as long as we all have those rings.”
Saint Joseph's opens the season at home on February 18 against American and plays nine games on Sweeney Field before hosting the A-10 Championship from May 5-7. Be sure to look for #45 in the cage.
She's a Hawk now.
