PEABODY — Peabody senior Olivia Kiricoples spent her time with the Tanners girls lacrosse team serving as a key offensive playmaker and now she’ll continue her career at the next level after committing to play at Worcester State next year.
The decision wasn’t necessarily a tough one for Kiricoples. Her first chance to see the Lancers campus was one of her first college visits she went on and it was a great first impression.
“I visited towards the end of junior year, actually,” Kiricoples said. “It was one of the first visits I went on and I loved everything. Even the pathways, the grass and the building, it was very aesthetically pleasing to me and I liked that a lot.”
Worcester State coach Kelly Downs also made a good impression on Kiricoples.
“I love the coach, she’s an amazing woman,” Kiricoples said. “She reaches out to me all the time, which is great. (Downs) has great strength and character.”
It was the coaching from Peabody girls lacrosse coach Dennis Desroches that helped Kiricoples maximize her potential early on with the Tanners. Once she got rolling the rest was history, with Kiricoples tallying more than 200 points in her three-year span with Peabody.
“(Desroches) had a huge role to play with my lacrosse,” Kiricoples said. “He knew I was a playmaker and had that ability. He really set up a lot of plays that helped me see the field. I remember coming in, I didn’t have most self confidence as a player. He helped build that confidence. Ever since freshman year and my first goal he’s been supporting me and telling me to believe in myself.”
Unfortunately, Kiricoples didn’t get the chance to put the finishing touches on her Peabody career with spring sports being cancelled this year due to the coronavirus pandemic. It was a hard pill to swallow for her and her fellow teammates.
“When I first found out I honestly started crying,” Kiricoples said. “I was absolutely devastated because we were really expecting to go far this year. My co-captains and I looked at this season as our year and we wanted to win the conference. We had huge goals and then it all got taken away. It was really devastating for all of us.”
But that doesn’t mean Kiricoples hasn’t been putting the work in to prepare for her step to the next level at Worcester State.
“I still get out every day I can,” Kiricoples said. “I have a rebounder net to catch off of so I work with that. Right now I’m working on my skills by myself because obviously you can’t be with teammates. For now I have to be ready to go when college comes obviously.”
Off the field Kiricoples has considered a few different majors at Worcester State but found the right fit as a Psychology major.
“At the time when I first visited they had just put in a brand new science building and I was looking to study biomedical engineering so that also helped me make my decision,” Kiricoples said. “Since then I’ve gone through some things that made me change my mind to psychology but I’m still excited to be there.”
Kiricoples goals with the Lancers for next season are simple — she wants to make whatever impact she can coming out of the gate to help her team find success on the field.
“Right away I want to go in and make the biggest impact I can,” Kiricoples said. “That doesn’t even mean scoring goals right away. If I can even help get the ball down the field I just want to make an impact. That’s my goal and hopefully I can make that happen in my time there.”