By Chris Goldberg
Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 7/29/10
Downingtown East rising senior goalie Allie Murray has made a verbal commitment to play Division I lacrosse at Notre Dame University.
Murray was a second-team Ches-Mont League selection in 2010 when she helped
lead the Cougars (19-6) to a fifth-place finish in the District 1 tournament and a berth in the second round of the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA) championships.
Murray was a member of the Philly team at the Under Armour Underclassmen Games earlier this month and plays club lacrosse for PA Express.
“I chose Notre Dame because it was the best combination of academics and athletics,” said Murray. “It has an amazing atmosphere and tradition and the coaches were so welcoming.”
An Honor Roll student, Murray is hoping to become a veterinarian and plans to major in biology.
Murray was a key figure on the Philly team in its success at the Under Armour tourney earlier this month in Baltimore. The Philly squad, though extremely young, rebounded from a tough opening game loss to Baltimore and won its final two games. The team was coached by Downingtown East coach Caitlin Barbakoff.
“It was cool to play for coach and it was a nice wrapup for the season,” Murray said. “We were a lot younger, but it was cool to mesh with new people.”
Murray noted that Downingtown East returns a number of starters from a team that reached the quarterfinals at states.
“It’s the furthest we’ve gotten and we played some great teams so we know what it takes,” she said. “It was exciting and it should help us for next year. We have a lot of expectations, but we have a tough league and we’ll need to work really hard to win.”
