University of Massachusets Athletics
FEATURE: Florence Among Nation's Best Goalies
May 04, 2011 | Women's Lacrosse
May 4, 2011
UMass' Florence is among nation's best goalies
by Kevin Henkin/
Editor’s note: This article originally appeared in the April 2011 issue of New England Lacrosse Journal.
You can say that Katie Florence has lacrosse in her blood, but she also has it deep in her heart and soul. That love for the game has driven her progression to become one of the best goalies in college lacrosse this season.
Now in her junior year at UMass, Florence grew up surrounded by the game. Her father, John, was a long-stick defenseman for Denison University in Ohio and her uncle Tom was a star goalie for Penn State. Florence’s earliest memories include her father playing in multiple tournaments at Lake Placid and Vail. She also recalls the constant presence of his lacrosse sticks lying around the house.
The Norfolk, Mass., native first picked up the game when she was 11. Within a few years, she discovered that her true home on the field was between the pipes.
“My uncle was a goalie, so I was just kind of interested in it,” she said. “No one else wanted to play there, so I kind of just stepped up and did it and ended up really liking it.”
As she gained experience at the position, Florence flourished as a player both for King Phillip High School in Wrentham, Mass., and for the Mass Elite club team. When she was recruited out of high school by Alexis Venechanos, then the coach at UMass, Florence jumped at the chance to play for the Minutewomen. It was the fact that Venechanos was an outstanding goalie during her own playing days (she started in net for the Maryland Terrapins during their undefeated championship season in 2001) that ultimately sealed the deal for Florence.
That, and the chance for immediate playing time.
In her freshman year in 2009, Florence started every game and played an instrumental role in the team’s Atlantic 10 championship and its first berth into the NCAA tournament in a quarter-century. After the season, she was named to the A-10 All-Rookie team in recognition for her performance as well as her numbers (.462 save percentage and 11.43 GAA).
Florence reflects fondly on that magical 2009 season, during which UMass reasserted itself as a regional power.
“I think winning the Atlantic 10 championship my freshman year was just the big hurdle for us, because it hadn’t been done (by UMass) in so long,” she said. “Winning that for our seniors was the best feeling that I’ve had since I’ve been here.”
The next year, Florence was named a team captain — an unlikely role for a sophomore — and took on that leadership role as her game continued to evolve. Her numbers remained stable (.431 save percentage with a 10.34 GAA), and she was able to again start every game despite a debilitating herniated disk injury suffered during fall ball.
Throughout the season, Florence required regular treatments from an electronic stimulation machine as well as help from massage therapists and a chiropractor just to be able to continue playing. The culmination of the injury took place during the middle of the A-10 conference championship game against Richmond.
John Florence, Katie’s father, recalls the incident with clarity.
“She and a girl caught feet and Katie went down,” he said. “She got up and I could tell right away that she’d tweaked her back. Shortly afterwards, there was lighting and rain that caused a delay in the game. They were able to hook her up to that stim machine during that delay to get her right. Otherwise, I don’t think she would have been able to finish the game.”
Florence did finish, helping her team to a tight 12-10 victory. After that, the Minutewomen fell short of a tournament berth, losing an NCAA play-in game on the road against Stanford.
While still dealing with the disappointment of the season-ending loss, Florence suffered another apparent setback when coach Venechanos departed for the opening at Ohio State. When UMass hired Angela McMahon — a former Minutewoman assistant coach who left in 2008 to run the show at UConn — Florence was encouraged. She’d gotten to know McMahon during the recruiting process, and had been impressed by McMahon’s resume and knowledge of the game.
When fall ball picked up, Florence was pleasantly surprised by just how much coaching emphasis was placed on the goalkeeping position, particularly in the form of associate head coach Sarah Albrecht.
“Sarah actually knows so much about goalie that losing Alexis as my old coach hasn’t really turned out to be that much of a downfall for me, just because our new coaches have worked so hard to keep coaching me as a goalie,” Florence said. “Every day at practice, I work on specific things, so it’s not like I lost a goalie coach. They really stepped up to keep me getting better every day.”
That extra attention, in addition to her mostly pain-free back, has paid big dividends this season as Florence has, by all accounts, taken her game to the next level.
Paula Evans, who coached Florence for the Mass Elite club team from when the goalie was still a middle-school newbie to the cage, credits Florence’s elevated game to a mixture of hard work and an almost unprecedented enthusiasm for playing as much as possible. She believes that Florence’s experience in starting all those games since her freshman year is what is creating the big payoff now.
The other payoff for all of that playing time comes in the UMass record book. Florence became the school’s all-time leader in wins when UMass beat Marist on March 22. By the time she graduates, Florence is likely to be the school’s career leader in saves and games played.
The growing, ever-improving numbers tell a story. Coach McMahon noted some particular areas of progression in Florence’s play this year.
“She’s just anticipating things a little bit quicker,” McMahon said. “I think she’s seeing things develop earlier, which allows her to get into good position to make a save.”
McMahon also highlighted Florence’s improved communication skills as a factor in her improvement.
“We need that from her because we have a pretty young defense,” McMahon said. “We only have one senior there and the rest of them are pretty young so for Katie to really be vocal has been very important to make sure that we work together as a unit.”
Regarding Florence’s heightened on-field communication, Evans sees it as a typical progression for elite goalies.
“When kids start off being goalies,” she said, “they’re just trying to figure out how to save the ball, learn their angles and watch the field. The talking part is definitely something that comes almost last because by then they’re more confident in themselves and they can multitask a little bit more and not just get caught up in making the save. That’s what’s happened increasingly over the years with Katie.”
Driven by the stellar play of Florence this spring, the Minutewomen broke quickly from the gate, winning their first six games before falling to Albany. According to McMahon, the team will lean heavily on Florence to move them ahead towards their lofty goals.
“I think for any team moving forward and having their sights set on making the NCAA tournament, you have to have a great goalkeeper to do that,” McMahon said. “I think Katie’s definitely going to be the backbone of our team as we make our way on that journey.”
Kevin Henkin can be reached at feedback@laxjournal.com