Women’s Lacrosse: How Jamie Lasda has found a voice to lead her team

Antonia Campbell
Thu, 23 May 2024 03:05:06 +0000
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Women’s Lacrosse player Jamie Lasda playing at the Ohio State Lacrosse Stadium in Columbus during Women’s Lacrosse senior night on April 18, 2024. Credit: Ohio State Athletics

Cool, calm and collected.

That is how Jamie Lasda, a Buckeye with lacrosse in her blood, approaches the game.

For someone who’s had lacrosse ingrained into her since age 4, that strategy makes sense for Lasda.

“It’s clear that she loves lacrosse and I think her family is deeply rooted in the sport,” head coach Amanda Moore said. “I think that she’s got a deep and meaningful connection to the game.”

Lasda, an environment, economy, development, and sustainability major, senior captain and attacker for Ohio State’s women’s lacrosse team, is originally from Ithaca, New York, where her two brothers put the idea of lacrosse in her brain.

“I think I first picked up the stick when I was about four years old, but I have two older brothers who played ahead of me and my dad played in college, so it was kind of destined to be,” Lasda, who is also pursuing a degree in environment, economy, development and sustainability, said. “I didn’t really have a choice, so I lucked out that I really liked it.”

Lasda said she admits her relationship with lacrosse wasn’t always smooth sailing, and it took a few years before she knew it was the sport for her.

“I think the first maybe five years were not so fun and pretty,” Lasda said. “I remember my dad forced me into men’s lacrosse camps with a bunch of boys and I was crying saying, ‘I don’t like this sport.’ But, I’m glad he made me push through because I think by middle school, I was like ‘This is a big dream of mine. I want to play D1 and I want to play in college.’’’

Since joining the Buckeyes, Lasda has seen action in each of her three seasons and has been a starter since her sophomore season.?

The 2023 Second-Team All-Big Ten selection led the Buckeyes in goals and points this year, reaching 100 career goals and 150 career points with a two-goal performance against Northwestern April 13. Moore had high praise for Lasda, who she said understands the game exceptionally well.

“I think that her lacrosse IQ is just so high,” Moore said. “Jamie is somebody who’s very, very smart and physically very dominant. So I think that gives us an advantage, along with her ability to score both with and without the ball.”

Lasda said when she was selected as captain for her upcoming senior season, she knew she would have to expand her leadership beyond demonstrating the standard through her play.

“I’m not super extroverted and in the past, I’ve always been a lead-by-example kind of person,” Lasda said. “When I was assigned this role, I think I was challenged to expand my vocal leadership and it’s been really exciting, especially with the leadership that’s around me with the other captains. I think we all mesh very well in our styles.”

Moore said Lasda’s use of her voice has been one of the ways she’s grown throughout her time as a Buckeye.

“It’s almost like she walks taller than when I first met her,” Moore said. “She just seems very confident and she’s grown so much in her voice. I can’t speak highly enough to that extent, like to see something and to say something amongst your peers is hard and I think that Jamie is finding a way to do that very honestly and authentically.”

Moore also said Lasda’s authenticity and approachability is what allows her to lead the team well.

“She’s very observant and she sees people and in a very non-judgmental way,” Moore said. “Something we look for in terms of establishing culture in our program is to encourage people to be their authentic self. Jamie brings her authentic self every day and in a very non-judgmental way, she’s able to be approachable and encourages people to bring what they’ve got.”

Fellow senior captain and goalie Regan Alexander said Lasda’s ability to lead without selfishness is what makes her a standout role model.

“Jamie’s incredible, and she’s such an amazing person and leader,” Alexander said. “She is obviously amazing at lacrosse, but she’s so caring and selfless. She’s always directing the attack to make sure everyone knows where they are, but she’s also a very selfless player. She’s not a ball hog and she’s never cocky.”

Beyond her newly-developed vocal leadership, Lasda feels her reliability on and off the field is what makes her a good leader and teammate.

“I think that I’m consistent and I hold integrity in that,” Lasda said. “I say what I do and I think it’s much easier to say something and not follow through, but it’s hard to follow someone who does that.”

Alexander said part of what makes Lasda a special person, both within and outside of lacrosse, is her caring nature and calm demeanor.

“I’ve been her roommate for three years, and I love living with her,” Alexander said. “She’s such a caring person, and she’s the most relaxed person you’ll ever meet. I get very anxious before games sometimes, but she is so relaxed and I think it’s the funniest thing. I’m just really proud of her and how she’s grown throughout the years.”

Moore echoed Alexander and said Lasda’s laid-back and mature presence is among her favorite things about her new captain.

“She’s just a chill cat,” Moore said. “She’s kind of this old soul, and she just strikes me as somebody who has a lot of wisdom to her. I appreciate it on the field, but I really appreciate it off the field too.”

Outside of lacrosse, Lasda said she loves the outdoors and looks forward to obtaining her degree.

“Last summer, I worked in the Columbus metro parks and was doing work outside, so conservation parks and whatnot is kind of what I enjoy,” Lasda said. “The big goal is to move out West. A lot of my family’s in Colorado and California, so I’d like to join them, and that’s also where a lot of my line of work is.”

Lasda said when her senior season ends, she’ll miss the love her team shares for each other and the good times that they had off the field.

“I really love our love for each other that comes with the competitiveness of lacrosse, but also from hanging out on the weekends,” Lasda said. “I’m going to miss the small things like talking in the locker room, dinners with everyone and those things that go unnoticed outside of actual practice.”