10:10 a.m. Centereach, N.Y.
About 40 minutes into day two of training camp, the first live shooting drills begin.
The smattering of media in attendance — along with Lacrosse Magazine, a couple of local reporters and photographers and a three-man camera crew following Wills — turn their attention to the end of the field where the goalies get peppered on the back end of 1-on-1 drills.
The rest of the team and coaching
staff line up along the restraining box to watch, as do Lizards front-office personnel on the sideline. Back in December, when New York claimed Wills from the MLL player pool, she acknowledged this may have started as a publicity stunt. Lizards owner Andrew Murstein, also the president of Medallion Financial Group and owner of Richard Petty Motorsports, referenced Danica Patrick and emphasized his company’s investment in women and minority businesses in the announcement. But Wills and Spallina, also the Stony Brook women’s coach, wanted to make it work.
“Is it a gimmick? Absolutely not,” Spallina said at the time. Adams, the established starter and
Team USA hopeful, takes his place in the goal first. He saves the second shot with his right foot. “You got Drew’d,” Lizards faceoff man Greg Gurenlian yells.
After Brady and Madalon get their reps, Wills steps into the cage as the last of the four goalies. The first three 1-on-1s come and go without any shots on goal, as the defensemen hold their ground. Then she makes three straight saves on close-range offerings. The seventh and final rep results in no shot. The 1-on-1s continue, and Wills finally allows her first goal, scored by attackman Jeff Tundo from about 10 yards out, on the fourth rep of the ensuing round. After three more attempts without a shot, Wills makes a high-to-high save before Tundo scores again.
Overall, not bad. But then, a reality check.
In the final string of individual drills, wily MLL veteran Matt Striebel beats Wills 5-hole from about 13 yards out dodging down the left alley — the kind of shot she rarely would see in the women’s game. Wills allows several
A Publication of US Lacrosse June 2014 >> LACROSSE MAGAZINE 55
more 12- to 15-yard goals throughout the day, but she also stops several shots, eliciting comments like, “Good save, Devon,” or “Nice save, ‘keep.” Spallina offers comic relief. As the practice progresses from half-field to transition sets, the four goalies stand uncomfortably beside a tripod set up inside the playing area. Spallina yells from midfield for Adams and crew to handle “the paparazzi.” Wills goes out of her way to acknowledge the 38 other players trying out for the team.
“I don’t want to take away from what they’ve done and how hard they’ve worked to get there. It adds a bit of a distraction,” she says. “It’s good for the sport. But it is kind of hard to focus on everything on the field and turn around and have cameras behind you.”
11:30 a.m. Centereach, N.Y.
Wills has found a willing mentor in Adams. The two goalies discuss shooters’ tendencies between reps. After Wills closes out a 5-on-4 series
with a point-blank save on Tommy Palasek, hugging the pipe and holding her ground, Adams excitedly jogs with her to the midfield huddle. “I give her a lot of credit,” Adams says after the morning session ends. “She hopped right in. She seemed confident. I’m sure she was nervous, but I think I would be if I was trying to make a spot on the team. She did a good job. She didn’t really need any help. She didn’t ask for anything. She was like another one of the guys. She played well.”
11:45 a.m. Centereach, N.Y.
The attention continues after the first session ends with stretching. Wills handles several media requests. She takes time to sign autographs and mingle with young fans. Among them is a high school-aged girl carrying a goalie stick and wearing a USC lacrosse long-sleeve t-shirt. Wills poses with her for pictures that later end up on the family’s Facebook pages. Wills proceeds to the chain-link fence
©KEVIN P. TUCKER; ©JOHN MECIONIS; ©TWITTER
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