No Letting Up for Emilie Pugliese
While Emilie Pugliese is no longer worried about playing well enough to get noticed by college lacrosse recruiters, the Huntington High School senior is still hungrier than ever to help the Blue Devils win the county championship.
Pugliese has already signed a NCAA Division I national letter of intent to attend High Point University in North Carolina on a lacrosse scholarship. But, that doesn't mean she intends to coast through her senior year. She's determined to turn in her best season yet.
Blue Devil head coach Nancy Wilson will be counting on Pugliese to anchor the midfield. The teenager is a two-time All-Division honoree. Last year she scored 32 goals and added 30 assists and 49 ground balls.
"I am looking forward to a great season," Pugliese said. "The new team has worked very hard in the off-season. Coach Wilson had a winter clinic, which enabled the team to play together for the first time. This season is going to be a challenging one, but Coach Wilson is prepared. We are in a different league and we have a very young team. It will be of the utmost importance that the seniors work together and mentor the younger players."
During her varsity career Pugliese has compiled some solid statistics, including 51 goals, 48 assists, 78 ground balls and 11 interceptions and she has forced 56 turnovers. The senior has played during the off-season with the Long Island Express.
Pugliese was recruited by a variety of large and small colleges. Some were interested in her playing soccer and lacrosse. But, she wanted to concentrate solely on lacrosse, although she has earned four varsity soccer letters and also been a member of the Blue Devil winter track and field team.
"One of my goals this season is to take what I have learned from my recent visit to High Point University," Pugliese said. "I met with the team and the new incoming recruits and I saw a lot of connecting as a family. It will be very important for us to play together as a whole at Huntington. Our team has a lot of skill and talent and I know if we work with the younger players we could be successful in this new league."
This will be a challenging season. The Blue Devils will look to work together and support each other on and off the field, practice hard and smart, display better passing, build a strong defense, demonstrate unselfish play, work on "re-defending," pick-up more groundballs and strive to qualify for the Section XI playoffs, according to Pugliese. Expect the senior to do her part in reaching each of these goals.