Kennedy Harper’ 27, a goalie at Goucher from Cheverly, Maryland, has starred in the past 12 games so far this season. On March 28, Kennedy Harper recorded 100 career saves in a conference game against Drew University.
Harper started out playing basketball first, and started playing lacrosse in her freshman year of high school.” She explained that since she wasn’t doing anything during the off-season, her coach wanted athletes to have a different sport to play in the wintertime.
She was also asked by her high school team’s players to play. She said, “ A couple of girls said we needed a lacrosse player, and I decided to play lacrosse.” Since she was new to the sport, Harper started as a field player, and “just played defense.” She was still learning the game and all the positions, and knew that the team “had a lot of other people who were a lot better.”
When the pandemic hit, it was during her freshman year of high school. “We only played for two weeks.” Despite being cut off due to the pandemic, the next year Harper said she “still decided to play lacrosse again.”
She explains, “that’s when I got asked to be a goalie, because we didn’t have a goalie because our goalie graduated.” Harper explains, “It gives me a leadership role within the team without necessarily having to be a captain or anything like that.”
Harper said, “ I hadn’t played that long, and I really enjoyed it.” This prompted her to continue playing on Goucher’s team. “ I felt myself continuing to get better throughout the years that I was playing.” Harper talked about how close Goucher was to her. “To come here was super nice because I live an hour away.” She talked about how Goucher was the “perfect location” for her.
At Goucher, she talked about being behind another skilled goalie. “It was kind of hard, and it felt kind of impossible to reach milestones,” Harper remembers thinking, “ I’m never going to get there.” Little did she know that she would be a junior with over 100 career saves.
She recalls how she “ kept checking my stats, like, after every game.”After hitting her goal in career saves, Harper said, “It felt like my hard work actually paid off.”
Reflecting on this season, Harper said, “This year has really challenged me, to have me think about playing lacrosse. Goucher Women’s Lacrosse has four more games this season.” Harper said, “ We’re doing really well. I’m just really excited to see where that brings us. We’ve kind of been an underdog of the Landmark for recent years.”
Featured Photo Credit: Kennedy Harper
