When she began her senior year of high school and was considering colleges, Hopkinton’s Sierra Schuster didn’t think sports would be involved. Four years later, Schuster is about to graduate as one of the most productive athletes in Colby-Sawyer College history.
Schuster has been a four-year starter and senior captain for both the field hockey and women’s lacrosse teams. Her name is all over the all-time career lists for both sports, she helped the field hockey team to the most wins (14) in program history this fall and she’s part of a senior class that has as many wins (42) as any class in the 40-year history of the women’s lacrosse program.
“I had no idea all that would happen,” Schuster said, “but it’s so amazing. It makes me so happy.”
She’s not quite done leaving her mark in New London. The Chargers (10-5) finish their lacrosse regular season on Wednesday at New England College before their first tournament trip in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference, which they just joined this year. Colby-Sawyer is fighting with St. Joseph’s of Maine for the No. 4 seed and a chance to host a quarterfinal game on Saturday.
“It’s been fun with new teams and new faces, and it’s crazy how different the defenses are in the different conferences. We’re also playing stronger teams, so it’s been cool to see how we do against them. So far it’s been pretty good,” Schuster said. “I think we had a little bit of a learning curve at the beginning of the season, but I’m excited to go into the playoffs. I think we’re the underdogs and that’s working for us right now.”
Schuster knows all about seeming underdogs succeeding. She started field hockey late and only played one year of varsity at Hopkinton High, but in that one year, 2014, she led the Hawks in scoring and helped them finish as Division III runner-up.
Schuster was a little surprised when Colby-Sawyer coach Emily Rinde-Thorsen sent her an email recruiting her for both field hockey and lacrosse (Rinde-Thorsen leads both programs). But it all made sense when Schuster recorded the second hat trick in program history in just her eighth college game and finished the season fourth on the team in goals (five) and assists (two).
“I owe it to my coach,” Schuster said. “I had an amazing freshman year for field hockey, it really clicked.”
It kept clicking on the offensive end for Schuster as she piled up 12 goals and six assists over the next two seasons and went to a place she never dreamed of visiting – the field hockey record books.
“What’s really crazy for me is being on the all-time field hockey lists,” Schuster said. “I never could have imagined that happening for field hockey.”
To put things in proper context, the field hockey program is only 8 years old at Colby-Sawyer. Still, considering Schuster’s relative lack of experience with the sport, it’s impressive that she’s third in program history in assists (11) and fourth in goals (19) and points (49). It’s even more impressive when you consider Schuster’s scoring was down her senior season (two goals, three assists) because she spent time playing defense. That’s part of the reason she was named to the GNAC Sportsmanship Team, and just another reason for her parents to be proud.
“Why I’m so proud of her is she chose to switch to defense her senior year even though she was climbing the all-time records because she knew the team needed her on ‘D,’ ” said Sharon Schuster, Sierra’s mother.
Field hockey was a revelation for Schuster, but lacrosse is still her favorite, even if she had a tough start to her college career. After her surprising fall, Schuster suffered a concussion in the spring that limited her lacrosse playing time. It wasn’t her first concussion, but she hasn’t had another one since then, and with hindsight the extra time on the sideline looks beneficial.
“It definitely helped because I would still go to practice and go to all the games, and seeing what all the upperclassmen did, that definitely helped,” Schuster said. “It was also just a good transition confidence wise because I grew a lot as a person, academically and athletically, and I think it just really clicked for me sophomore year. And I was on a great team me and everyone was so supportive.”
Schuster has paid that support forward.
“I am often told by other players’ parents that Sierra has been a support to their daughters,” Sharon Schuster said.
During that breakthrough sophomore season, Schuster was second on the team with 52 goals, including six game-winners for a team that went 10-7. She was named All-North Atlantic Conference Second Team after that season and was an All-NAC First Team pick as a junior after scoring 34 goals and dishing out 16 assists.
So far this season, Schuster has 45 goals and 11 assists. She’s seventh in program history in points with 176, which puts her 21 away from the No. 6 spot. She’s also seventh in goals with 140, which leaves her 19 away from No. 6.
Schuster believes all the hours she dedicated to athletics actually helped her college academics. It forced her to create a disciplined routine that she missed during the few weeks that she wasn’t in the middle of some season. She recently had an internship at Dartmouth Hospital and plans on getting certified as a phlebotomist and then going back to school to become a medical stenographer after graduating from Colby-Sawyer.
That will likely keep her busy, but Schuster hopes to also keep sports in her life.
“I really would love to coach,” she said. “I want to be involved as much as I can.”
Knowing Schuster, as much as she can will be a lot.
(Tim O’Sullivan can be reached at 369-3341 or tosullivan@cmonitor.com or on Twitter @timosullivan20)