By Patrick Hood
Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 3/2/24
Tufts University junior attack Margie Carden has big goals for the 2024 season.
The Villa Maria Academy graduate is focused on helping the Jumbos return to the national championship.
“Well, first of all, (our No. 1 goal is) to win the National Championship,” said Carden, whose Jumbos reached the 2022 National final and were ousted in the 2023 quarterfinals “I think that’s a big thing for our team, and at the end of the day, that’s just something that we’re always thinking about in the back of our minds. There are a lot of other individual and team goals that go underneath that, but I think that’s an overarching goal that encompasses everything.
“I also think another one is beating Middlebury. They’re a great, amazing team, and we have a little bit of a rivalry with them because they’re in our league and they’re so good.”
Carden has flourished at Tufts, scoring 69 goals in each of her first two seasons. Last season, she was named an IWLCA First Team All-American and NESCAC First Team All-Conference after helping the Jumbos to a 16-5 record. Carden is now 54 goals away from tying the school record of 192 goals, set by Radnor graduate Emily Games in 2021.
Carden, who helped Villa Maria Academy win the 2018 PIAA Class AA championship, was named a Preseason Inside Lacrosse First Team All-American last month. Her Jumbos open today at Connecticut College at noon.
More on our interview with Margie Carden:
Question: What convinced you to commit to Tufts?
Carden: I committed before my senior year, Coach [Courtney Shute] reached out to me, and honestly it was the first school – even though it was all over Zoom – that felt really comfortable. I liked the team vibe and the combination of academics and competing for a National Championship, [Tufts] has a really good reputation of always making it pretty far in the NCAA tournament, so I think those two combined were a pretty big factor in making my decision.
Question: What are some of the keys to your success on the field?
Carden: There’s a lot of different things. First of all, just knowing who you’re working with and how to work with them. Over the last couple of years, I’ve been pretty lucky to be surrounded by people who know I like to find myself in the middle. From an individual standpoint, always trying to get a little bit better, and putting in extra time. If you want to be successful in whatever you’re doing, just knowing that you’re never going to be satisfied, there’s always a different level that you can reach. I’ve been reminding myself of that, and I’m just trying to get a little bit better every single day.
Question: Now that you’re a junior, do you see yourself as one of the leaders on the team?
Carden: Yeah, I think going from an underclassman to an upperclassman, your role on the team changes in those couple of years. When you’re younger, you’re learning a lot, asking a lot of questions, and you may be a little bit nervous at first when you’re trying to assert yourself, because it’s a role you have to earn. I think the biggest thing as an upperclassman is just leading by example, so knowing you set the standards in the tone for the team practices, and how we are in a locker room going into games. That’s been a big focus this year, setting standards for myself so other people will follow, and hopefully that will help us achieve our goals.
Question: Do you feel like you have any pressure on yourself this season to perform individually?
Carden: Yeah, a little bit. From now compared to freshman year, you go into it, no one really knows anything about you, especially as a freshman. Last year was definitely an adjustment period, as teams start to scout you and your tendencies. You’re going to have to change your game, because any opponent that you’re playing is going to have scouted you, they’re going to send doubles early. I think that that’s something that I learned to adjust to last year, and hopefully I’m going to continue growing and getting better at it this year. So as long as I put the team and team goals in front of me, I think it alleviates the individual pressure.
Question: Who specifically has helped you reach the point that you’re at right now?
Carden: Obviously my family and all of them, but I first started going to [Private Coach] Bob Mongeluzzi’s sessions in my sophomore year of high school right before COVID. I was a decent player, but he just gave me so much confidence and totally changed the way I play. I will give a lot of credit to him and the sessions that he’s run over the years. He’s definitely given me a lot of confidence and has always been a big supporter. Even during times where I’ve struggled, learning to adapt to a new type of game – college games are so much faster, the girls are stronger – he’s always been my number-one fan, he’s given me support whenever I needed it.
Question: Have you and your brother been able to help each other grow as players?
Carden: Yes, we played together a lot growing up. He started out as an attacker, so we definitely spent a lot of time in the backyard together. Then, when he moved to defense, he definitely beat me up a lot. So many fights ensued because of that. Even now, though, when we’re preparing to go back into our spring seasons, we’ll usually always go work out together and shoot together, which has been nice, especially when you’re away from everyone on your team.
Question: What is your major and what inspired you to choose your major?
Carden: I am studying international relations with a concentration in international security. To be completely honest, I had no idea what I wanted to do. When I first got here freshman year, I took the intro class, and I was like, ‘Wow, I really love this.’ It combines a bunch of different disciplines, like history, poly sci, and language, and I felt like I could do a lot within it. I really like my history classes, as political science classes, but it has a little bit more to offer than just poly sci.
Question: What are some of your [college] career goals?
Carden: Just continuing to build on my freshman and sophomore years. At the end of the day, I hope we win. If we go far in the NCAAs, if I am still in a scoring role – which I think I should be – just finding similar success. One thing I want to focus on this year is learning how to scout and assisting a little bit more.
Question: Once you graduate, do you want to go into coaching in some capacity?
Carden: Potentially. I really love the game, and I would love for it to be a part of my life for the rest of my life. I don’t know what way that would be, but I could see myself coaching at some point.
Question: What advice would you give to an aspiring college lacrosse player?
Carden: There’s a lot of learning over the years. I think the biggest thing is just showing up, because you’re going to have bad days, you may have some regrets on the field, but showing up and getting out there to do extras and reminding yourself to have confidence in those moments, and to just keep hammering away at whatever it is. As soon as you get complacent with wherever you’re at, that’s where you can lose your confidence and just not really have fun with it. So I think just always trying to chip away a little bit, get a little bit better, never really fails you.
