On Feb 26, 2016—during her sophomore year at Walpole High School—senior girls lacrosse captain Emily Curtis decided to verbally commit to Villanova University. On Nov. 15, 2017 she cemented her verbal commitment by signing her National Letter of Intent.
“I decided to commit when I stayed overnight with the [Villanova girls lacrosse] players my sophomore year, and was able to experience a day at Villanova,” said Curtis. “I immediately fell in love with it.”
Curtis made Walpole High School’s varsity girls lacrosse team as a freshman playing the attack position, and continued to play on the team her sophomore and junior years. Curtis is now the captain of the team for her senior season in 2018. Although high school is where Curtis began to draw more attention from coaches and college recruiters, the process of her development began much earlier on. On top of playing for the Rebels, Curtis played club lacrosse for Revolution Lacrosse all throughout her youth and high school career, which gave her a platform to improve during the offseason.
Curtis said, “I would like to thank all of my family and my coaches for always supporting me and never giving up on me.”
One of Curtis’ main roles on the team was stopping the opposing team in transition during a “ride”. By pressuring the player with the ball, Curtis helps prevent breakaways and keep the ball on Walpole’s offensive side of the field. Mike Tosone, head coach of Walpole High School varsity girls lacrosse, coached Curtis for all of the four years she played in high school.
“ In 1v1 situations, Em is as good as we have had at Walpole HS. If and when she gets the ball at ‘her spot’ she is virtually unstoppable…she takes her ‘job’ seriously, and is a terrific competitor,” said Tosone. “I think Emily has all the physical tools to continue to do at the next level, what she has done at the HS level. She clearly loves the game, and this is very important as the commitment level needed to play D1 is very high.”
Curtis is excited to see what this next step at Villanova has in store for her; however, she will also miss all of the memories and experience of lacrosse from her youth that she will leave behind.
“I think there will be a lot of differences [playing in college], like living away from home and not playing with my friends I have grown up playing with,” said Curtis. “Still, I’m looking forward to playing at the next level, and ultimately not saying goodbye to a sport I love just yet.”
