For the hours that senior Carlee Ries is on the field, everything else is forgotten. She doesn’t face stress or worries.  Her only focus is on the game and preventing the ball from getting past her into the net. ESPN High School recognized her focus and concentration on the field, ranking her the seventeenth best high school lacrosse goalie in the United States.

Ries has been playing lacrosse for 13 years.  She never desired to play goalie until age seven, when her recreation league coach gave everyone a chance in the net.

“When I finally played I just fell in love with the position,” Ries said.

Her love for lacrosse has driven her to commit to Drexel, one of the top 35 Division 1 lacrosse teams in the nation.

“I picked Drexel because I love the city and the nursing program is amazing. When I met and hung out with the team, everyone was just so positive and fun, I felt like I belonged,” Ries said.

Ries knows that playing at the Division 1 level will be challenging. Knowing that her teammates and coaches will help her, she is confident that she will be able to handle high pressure situations. To Ries, that’s not the hardest part – that is the mental component.

“If you don’t save the ball then the other team gets a goal and you feel like it was all your fault . . .you have to brush it off and get ready for the next one. I learned a strategy called the three second rule – you can only worry and be upset about something that has happened on the field for three seconds, then you must move on,” Ries said.

Ries’ ranking in the ESPN-HS list of the top 25 goalies is also based on her work playing on the North East Maryland Select (NEMS) lacrosse team, but she still remembers the lessons she’s learned from playing for JC.

“You have to keep your head up and stay positive all the time. If you become negative, then you start to play negative.  And that hard work pays off in the end,” Ries said.

Miranda Ripken is a Sports Editor for The Patriot and jcpatriot.com.