Quiet Storm
02/27/2001 | Women's Lacrosse
Feb. 20, 2001
Carrie Aitken kicks the dirt off her shoes, joins her teammates and from the enclave of players, bursts into view, a jolt of energy, ready to run and willing to accept nothing less than victory.
"I want to be the player that complements my teammates and contributes in any way to help us win," says Aitken, a junior attacker on Richmond's lacrosse team. "In talking with my teammates, we know that this is going to be a special year because each player is dedicated to helping the team. We're going to give every ounce of energy that we have to achieving our goals."
Aitken has been the Spiders primary offensive force over the past two seasons, already rising to tenth on the program's career goals charts, while ranking 16th among the Spiders all-time points leaders. As a sophomore, she paced the team with 26 goals, including back-to-back four-goal performance against Ohio University and Notre Dame. This is surely the stuff of an all-conference honoree, an award...
"If someone didn't tell me about my statistics, I would never be aware of it," she comments. "At the end of the day, what really matters is what is on the scoreboard and that we have been successful as a group. It doesn't matter who scores the goals as long as we execute as a team."
Know this about Aitken: she doesn't like losing. Not in lacrosse. Not in anything. In addition, she is not only an outstanding all-around athlete, but has a fabulous support system, most notably her mom, dad and brother. Aitken's father was a football and baseball standout at Lafayette and played minor league baseball in the Cincinnati Reds organization. Her mother played field hockey and basketball at Westfield State.
"I remember growing up, my parents would take me to all of my practices and sacrifice their own schedules to help me pursue my passion," Aitken remembers. "They never complained. Not once. They always told me that if I worked hard, that I could achieve any goal that I set for myself."
As a prep standout, Aitken excelled in soccer, basketball and lacrosse. Her ambition was to play college soccer and then the three worst letters an athlete can ever face impacted Aitken's athletic career. "I tore my ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) playing soccer the summer before my senior year in high school," Aitken remembers.
The injury closed one door and opened another - to lacrosse. Following the injury, she did not beg for sympathy and instead committed herself to a rigorous conditioning program. As a lacrosse standout at Saint Mark's School in Massachusetts, she was an explosive scorer as a high school senior and chose Richmond "after I absolutely fell in love with the campus" on her initial visit.
Aitken's impact was felt immediately as a freshman as she ranked second among team scoring leaders with 27 points on 23 goals and four assists. Even while adjusting to a new style of play, Aitken put up impressive numbers. In an era of showmanship, Aitken takes pride in developing her all-around game.
"(Richmond head lacrosse coach) Kim (Chorosiewski) helped make me a more complete player," Aitken recalls. "We played a completely different style in high school and when I came to Richmond, Kim said, 'This is what we need you to do to be effective playing college lacrosse.' It has really paid off."
Adds Chorosiewski: "Every freshman has adjustments to make. What she did and continues to do so well is use her strengths, build upon those strengths and excel. She can be a 'go to' player, a complimentary player or a role player. Whatever the game dictates, she can do effectively."
Even after tearing elbow ligaments last fall, she pared a four-month rehabilitation process down to 60 days. Still humble enough to take nothing for granted, Aitken admits "I can't imagine my life without athletics."
Following graduation, Aitken aspires enter the field of physical therapy. "An athletic injury can be one of the most damaging events in an athlete's life," she says. "I don't any person to ever feel that they can't come back from an injury and still be effective. I want to give them hope because I have been in the same situation."
"During her arm and knee rehabilitation, she had the time to step back and assess things," says Chorosiewski. "I think the inactivity, at times, has made her a tremendously strong person mentally. Carrie has blossomed as a person and a player. Isn't that what this is all about?"
These days, she focuses on bolstering a team readying for a breakthrough year. "This season, everybody is ready to start. We have so much confidence and are ready to step out on the field, play and have one of our most rewarding seasons yet."