Mac O’Keefe, Charlotte North, Justin Guterding… the list goes on. You have heard about all the big names in college lacrosse goal-scoring. You have heard of Payton Cormier and Izzy Scane, who both re-wrote the Division I record books this year. This is a story about someone you’ve probably never heard of, a women’s lacrosse freshman from Calgary, who out-scored them all.
In fact, Emmanuel University’s Paige Murphy out-scored just about everyone in college lacrosse this season. Across all three divisions of men’s and women’s lacrosse, just one player finished with more goals than her (Division III Capital University’s Grace Osborne scored a remarkable 148 goals this season). Murphy finished with 113 goals, 38 assists and 151 points. And again, she was just a freshman.
It was the second most goals ever scored in Division II women’s lacrosse, just two shy of the record set last year by Maryville’s Sydney Tiemann. Tiemann scored 115 goals in 20 games, whereas Murphy had only 18 chances to score hers.
Murphy never scored fewer than 4 goals in a game. She scored 4 goals three separate times, scored 6 goals in six separate games, scored 7 goals seven times, and scored 8 goals twice. She also added 38 assists, and shot an efficient 54% on the season.
This was her season game log.
Somehow, missing the best season ever by just 2 goals was not enough to secure Murphy a spot on any of the IWLCA women’s lacrosse All-American teams. She was named the Freshman of the Year by Conference Carolinas and also was named to the women’s lacrosse All-Conference First Team.
Most positive for Murphy and her team was the winning that followed. Emmanuel improved from 7-10 one year ago to 13-5 this season. Even as she approached the potential scoring record, it was the team success that kept Murphy going.
“At first I was just like ‘oh if it happens, it happens,’ I wasn’t going to force anything and then I saw that I was getting closer. So I kept it in the back of my head, but obviously at the end of the day I just want the team success and I just want to win,” said Murphy.
It wasn’t the most traditional path from Calgary to Emmanuel. Emmanuel is a small private Christian college in Franklin Springs, Georgia. The school has just 900 students, and the town of Franklin Springs has just over 1,000 full time residents. It’s also more than 3,800 km from Calgary.
But it was the right place for Murphy, who grew up playing box lacrosse and was a late convert to the field game. Her older cousins and her older brother played box growing up, which led her to get involved.
“I was getting dragged to the rinks, and I was like, ‘I want to play too,’” said Murphy. “I started box lacrosse when I was 12, and I’ve just been playing ever since.”
She competed in box for the Calgary Axemen and eventually the women’s program moved to the Fury. But it wasn’t until her final year of high school that she started thinking about playing in the US.
“When I was in grade 12, I was like ‘ok if I want to go to the States for school, this is something I’m going to have to do,’” she said, referring to field lacrosse. “So at the beginning of grade 12, I got a field stick, and then I kind of just started messing around in my backyard trying to figure out my pocket and that sort of thing.”
That process led her to join a club program that traveled to the States, and make a highlight tape. Paige attended a tournament in Las Vegas, which is where she met up with Emmanuel’s Head Coach, Brian Little.
Little wasn’t originally supposed to attend the showcase, but a schedule change allowed him to fly out last minute. Little was coaching against Murphy in the showcase, and she caught his eye in a most Canadian way.
“She asked what the score was,” said Little. “I was like, ‘they don’t keep score at these types of things,’ and she said, ‘well, I’m trying to win.’”
“I was like, ‘that’s someone we definitely want,’” said Little.
They talked briefly after the showcase and connected the following week. Murphy went down to Emmanuel, and the rest, as they say, was history.
Once she arrived on campus, Coach Little wanted to make sure he didn’t overload her with information too quickly.
“She had played box her whole career,” said Little. “So I pretty much just told her, play like you’re playing box, and then when you have questions, ask them, and I’ll answer to the best of my ability.”
“She ha[d] so much more room on the field (than in the box), she was like a kid in the candy store,” said Little.
Apparently the fall was more than enough time for Paige to get acquainted with the outdoor game. She had 6 goals in her first college game against SCAD Savannah. Then 7 goals in her second game, and 8 in her third game.
Little said that Murphy was quick to get over some early nerves, and that she came to embody her favourite mantra: “Lock in.”
While she clearly has some Alberta grit, Murphy also showed some stereotypical Canadian modesty when asked about her year.
“I was definitely really nervous starting to play, I didn’t know what I was capable of,” said Murphy. “But it was super good that I had my teammates beside me. They really helped me out.”
Two of those teammates were fellow Canadians. Thornton, Ontario native Kristie Fisher scored 81 points of her own this year, while Maple Ridge, British Columbia native Mikaela Austin added 54 points. On and off the field, the Canadian trio was important for Emmanuel.
“It’s nice to talk to them because they get the box lacrosse side of things a lot more,” said Murphy. “And it’s also nice to have teammates that understand that we are in it together.”
Little recognized what he had, and implemented a “read and react” style offence that emphasized the skills that his players had.
“We want to attack the middle, there’s no secret about that,” said Little. “That’s how we like to play and people just react off of what people are doing… I think they’ve grown IQ wise which is the most fun part.”
While success comes quickly for some freshman, few are able to avoid complacency (not to mention scouting) and keep the pace all season.
“As a competitor, just wanting to win usually does it,” said Murphy when asked about avoiding complacency. “Lots of teams look down upon us and don’t take us seriously. So I think as a program just working our name up and showing that we are better now and they can’t take us lightly.”
That fire led the Lions to one of the best seasons in school history, which ultimately ended with a loss to Barton College in the Conference Carolinas tournament. Their 18.65 average goals per game was the second highest mark in all of Division II.
While the loss was certainly disappointing, Murphy (with three years remaining) and the Lions have plenty of time to keep improving.
“I think the foundation that we are building is really good, and with Coach Brian and a lot of good core values as a team,” said Murphy. “Coach Brian keeps saying let’s not just make this history, let’s make it a habit, which I really like.”
Now you’ve heard of Paige Murphy and the Emmanuel Lions. Something tells me this won’t be the last time.