When junior Annabelle Parent was preparing for her high school lacrosse career, she wasn’t expecting to become the team’s starting goalie. She thought another upperclassmen would be sharing the position. Someone she could learn to help ease the transition. It didn’t take long till she found out that that was not the case.

“To be honest, it was kind of a bummer,” Parent shared. “I thought one of the other seniors at the time was also a goalie, but she quit unbeknownst to me.”

Suddenly, the young freshman found herself as the only goalie in the program. There was no backup plan; no one waiting behind her. If Morgan needed saves, Parent would have to be the one to make them.

Now, three years later, the junior goalkeeper has reached the milestone of 400 career saves this season and finished her season with 482.

For Morgan’s Head Coach, Bill Lindsay, Parents’ potential was obvious from the beginning.

“Right from the beginning, you could see she was fearless,” Lindsay said. “Sometimes goalies have a fear reflex, but she never showed that. She wasn’t afraid to stand tall in goal and make saves.”

This fearlessness became a necessity.

As the lone goalie, Parent was forced to grow quickly. While the responsibility could have overwhelmed many freshmen, she used it as motivation.

“Knowing that I was the only goalie, I convinced myself that I had to be good,” Parent said. “No one was going to step in if I couldn’t handle it. So I grew my skills so that I wasn’t a liability for the team.”

One of the biggest lessons she quickly learned was how to overcome the physical demands of the position.

“Since freshman year, I lost my fear of getting hit,” she said. “The ball hurts, no doubt, but it’s not going to kill me.”

The growth had been evident not only in Parent’s saving abilities, but also in every aspect of her game.

Lindsay gives credit to her confidence as the most noticeable improvement.

“I think the biggest improvements have been in her confidence and willingness to come out from between the pipes,” Lindsay said. “She now regularly hedges on drives from behind the goal and will come out to win ground balls or intercept passes. Her confidence with the ball in her stick on clears and decision making has also come a long way.”

Parents’ evolution as a player has transformed the way the team plays defense.

“Having a goalie like Anna definitely changes the way we can play defense,” Lindsay shared. “We can push out and pressure the ball a

lot more knowing she is back there. Typically, if she sees the shot, she makes the save.”

While 400 saves is an impressive statistic, Parent admits she has never been motivated solely by numbers.

“To be completely honest, I don’t have a real memory of any specific saves,” she said. “I definitely remember good games and maybe certain parts, but I really remember my mindset.”

For a majority of her career, that mindset has been centered around proving she belongs.

“I’ve always been very determined to prove myself and show everyone that I deserve a place on the team,” Parent said, “That the varsity spot was not just handed to me because no one else wanted to play the position.”

At times, that pressure became a burden.

“That would cause me to spiral sometimes during games, costing us points,” she said. “But as I’ve grown, I’ve learned that I need to be present in the game. It’s not about what I can show for it, but what I can do in the moment.”

That growth was reflected in the way she approached her milestone season. Rather than constantly tracking her statistics, Parent intentionally focused on her performance.

“This year I haven’t been looking at the stats that much,” she said. “I’m trying to be less dependent on my ranking because the stress can affect my performance.”

Parents were not even aware she was approaching 400 saves until the day of the game.

“I learned I was hitting my 400th the morning of the game.”

She credits a majority of her development to mastering the fundamentals.

“You can’t do crazy things if you don’t understand why you’re doing them or without the skill and knowledge it takes to do it,” she said. “Whenever I made a mistake, I would break down what happened and focus on what caused the problem.”

This commitment to fundamentals has helped her become more than just a goalkeeper, but also a leader.

“Since freshman year, she has really improved in being a vocal leader on defense,” Lindsay said. “This year our defensive communication has been one of the strengths of the team, and that all starts with her.”

Despite saying she doesn’t remember many individual saves, there is still one play from this season that stands out to her.

“I had one save this year that felt really good,” Parent recalled. “I can’t remember who we played, but in the second quarter, I snagged the ball, ran out of the goal, and had a spot-on clearance to Nora [Winsor]. I believe it was my best play of the season.”

Even after reaching 400 saves, Parent’s development is far from over. Lindsay believes her next step is continuing to improve her patience and passing on clears to spark transition opportunities.

Regardless of what next season has in store, Parent has already left a lasting mark on the program.

What began as an unexpected opportunity for a freshman, blossomed into a story of resilience, growth, and determination. 482 saves and a Shoreline Conference Goalie of the Year award later, Parent has proven that she earned her place and is a key role in the team’s success of their 10-6 season.