The phrase “when one door closes, another one opens” has special meaning for Alicia Rodriguez.
The 2021 Easton Area High School graduate tore her ACL during her senior year playing lacrosse at the University of Mount Saint Vincent in New York City. The injury came in the first game of the season last February.
As devastating as it was for Rodriguez to have her playing career cut short by injury, it was also an eye-opening and, as it turned out, door-opening opportunity.
“Because I could no longer play, I got to see the coaching aspect of lacrosse and got to work with our coaches and the athletic department,” she said. “And I loved it. I loved having the ability to see more of the game and everything as a whole. I just helped my team out by noticing some of the smaller things I might not have noticed when I was playing.”
As the season ended, Phil Stern, the school’s vice president for athletics and recreation, broached the subject of her coaching the team.
“He’s awesome,” Rodriguez said. “I had a close relationship with him during the past four years there as a student-athlete, and he asked me about becoming the coach. I was a little nervous at first because obviously I have never been a head coach before. But I figured I didn’t have anything to lose, and I am going to have great support. So, why not? I am super excited to start working with them.
So, at age 22, Rodriguez became the youngest head coach in school history and might be the youngest coach of any varsity sport at any college in the country.
“Honestly, I am not sure, but I might be, and that’s exciting,” she said.
Stern is excited to have her lead the program.
“We are thrilled to welcome back one of the most decorated student-athletes in Skyline Conference and UMSV Athletics history,” he said on the school’s athletic website. “Alicia is loved and respected by all on our campus and will be an amazing leader for our women’s lacrosse program. Her knowledge of the sport, coupled with her passion for The Mount, will shine through in all aspects of the program. I look forward to helping grow the program with her.”
According to the website, Rodriguez was a four-year member of the program that she now leads, and walked away as arguably the greatest Dolphin to play at the Division III school.
She was named first-team all-Skyline Conference in each of her first three seasons and earned Player of the Year honors as a sophomore. She then took home Defender of the Year as a junior. She opened her senior season last spring with a four-goal performance against Montclair State, but saw her season and career come to an abrupt end.
But her time with the Division III program located in the Riverdale section of the Bronx is far from over.
She knows that being so young and fresh off the playing field will have some positives and potential negatives.
The positive is that she can relate to the players so well because she was one of them earlier this year. The negative is that she’s in an entirely different role.
“This is a learning experience, not only for me but for the whole team,” she said. “I’ve got to step into a different role because last year I was everyone’s friend. But now I can’t have that same close, friendly relationship I had before. I’m their coach now, so I have to implement some new things in that aspect. It’s going to be really hard for me because I was super close with all of the girls. And I know them super well. I know how hard they work, how positive they are and that they have so much potential. I feel like we’ll really work to the best of our abilities together.”
She plans to keep the same goals she had as a player.
“My goal was always to work hard, be positive on and off the field, and just make the team feel like a family,” she said. “I think as a head coach, my goal is going to remain the same. I aim to just help our team discover their passion for lacrosse while having fun and earning the value of being great teammates. At the same time, I want them to work hard on and off the field, excel in the classroom, and help them develop into better people and players, which comes from things like discipline, accountability, trust, empathy, and remaining positive through the ups and downs of a season.”
Rodriguez left her mark on the Mount Saint Vincent program as a player. Despite missing almost all of her senior season, Rodriguez finished her playing career ranked among UMSV’s all-time greats — 2nd in career goals (168), 3rd in points (216), 4th in assists (48). She also captained the soccer team, where she was a three-time, first-team all-conference selection and led the Dolphins to their first-ever Skyline Conference title.
She also played both sports at Easton, where she was inspired by several outstanding coaches.
“I had amazing coaches at Easton,” she said. “My soccer coaches were [Tim] Hall and [Rick] Agretto, and in lacrosse, I had coach [Michelle] Mihalko, and they shaped me into becoming a better player and a better person. They valued me as a person first, compared to just being another athlete on the field. And I feel that’s what really helped me, not only with my skills but as a person. You grow to love the game so much more when you’re valued as a person. I’ve been super lucky to have this opportunity, and when those coaches found out, they all called me to congratulate me. They told me a lot of things, but they told me to just be my own person and that they’re always there for me. It’s just nice to have coaches who, even a few years later, say they are there for me and that’s what I want to be for my players.”
Rodriguez graduated last spring with a degree in biology, and as she begins her first season as a head coach, she will be in an accelerated nursing program.
One thing she has to learn is the recruiting landscape. She knows the sport and how to relate to players, but now she needs to get them to what she calls a “beautiful campus.”
“I have asked the men’s lacrosse coach and some other college coaches about recruiting,” she said. “I am trying my best to figure that out. It’s a whole other side of lacrosse that I don’t know about.”
Meanwhile, she has nearly completed her recovery from her ACL tear, and she wants to keep playing at the club level.
“When I was growing up, I actually liked soccer a lot more, but once I got to college, I couldn’t pick a favorite between soccer and lacrosse,” she said. “No matter what I played, my parents loved coming to my games. There were there no matter what … hot or cold, soccer or lacrosse, they were there at every and now they’re excited to be reunited with all of the other parents. Right now, the players are all excited about this. Some said they weren’t planning on playing next year, but now they are. So it’s nice to know I’m already boosting their morale.”
