Mount St. Mary’s women’s lacrosse senior Madison Bradley recently chatted with PressBox about developing as a goalie, her goals for after lacrosse and more. The 5-foot-6 goalie posted an 8.62 goals-against average and .460 save percentage for the Mountaineers in 2022. Bradley is a native of Haddon Township, N.J., and graduate of Haddon Township High School.
PressBox: How did you become interested in lacrosse?
Madison Bradley: I went to school in Jersey, where I grew up. Lacrosse was a very new program. I played softball and was on the swim team. A lot of the girls I played basketball and soccer, they’re like, “Oh, we’re going to try out for lacrosse and just see.” I think that was when we were in seventh grade. Just went to the meeting. The coaches were talking to us and said, “Hey, if we don’t get enough girls to play a women’s team, y’all are just going to join the men’s team.” So I was like, “Oh, run around, hit people with long sticks? Sounds perfect.” We ended up having enough to field a girls’ team and just got into that way and kind of fell in love with the sport. I was the only one crazy enough to try the goalie position and fell in love with that and never looked back from seventh grade.
PB: How did you become a goalie?
MB: I was a soccer goalie growing up my whole life. No one else wanted to do it for lacrosse and I said, “Yeah, sure, I’ll give it a shot. I know a little bit about how to play goalie from another sport.” Loved it from Day One.
PB: Who were the big influences on your game growing up?
MB: My high school coach, Julie Sullivan, was a great high school lacrosse player and then played college for field hockey and is the first person at the Syracuse field hockey program to get her number retired. The Maryland women’s lacrosse program and UNC women’s lacrosse program were monsters, and they still are today. I just loved going and watching their games whenever they came and played Rutgers or watching them on TV. It was just not one person but seeing what those programs can do and how dominating they were to the sport was just really inspiring.
PB: Why did you choose to come to the Mount?
MB: I never knew about the Mount until [head coach Lauren Skellchock] reached out to me, but I walked on campus and … the best way to put it is I felt like I was at home. I felt very safe here and loved the coaching staff, loved the ambition that Lo had for the program and what she saw for our future. And then fell in love with the team and my freshman girls coming in who I was with. I just felt at home and felt like I was safe and comfortable here.
PB: What’s your favorite memory so far at the Mount?
MB: It’d either be [beating] Bryant and being on the field when the buzzer went [in the 2022 NEC championship game] or my sophomore year being on the sideline and winning against Wagner [in the 2021 NEC championship game].
PB: You were sixth in Division I in goals-against average last season in your first year as a full-time starter. How did you develop as a goalie during your first two years when you weren’t playing a ton?
MB: It’s a lot of outside work. Obviously, you’re going to see some time in practices, but you have to put the time in outside. I would do two or three individuals with my coach, just seeing extra shots and then doing shooting sessions with my teammates whenever we can. When you’re not starting, you always have to be game-ready because you never know when you’re going to get thrown in. So just taking a lot of time out of the allotted two-hour practices and just putting the extra work in.
PB: What’s your favorite thing about Emmitsburg?
MB: It’s a very small community. I live off-campus and a lot of the other athletes live off-campus, so just how close we all are no matter the sports team. You can always walk to someone’s house just to hang out if you’re bored on a Tuesday night when you have practice the next day.
PB: What’s your favorite thing about the Mount?
MB: How close-knit the entire community is. Our class sizes are so small that professors get to know you by name like two weeks in and you end up getting close to the kids you have classes with. Depending on your major, you’re going to be in the majority of the classes with them throughout your four years here, so you just get really close with everyone.
PB: Who’s your best friend on the team and what’s a story that underscores your friendship?
MB: I would have to say Christina Haspert. She is one of our attackers. She isn’t playing this year. She had knee surgery recently. … There was one game Tina messed up and she knew she messed up. I was aggravated and frustrated a little bit. I was like, “Tina, don’t do that again.” She just looked at me with a smile on her face because Tina always has a smile and she goes, “Yeah, I know.” You see her smile, you’re not frustrated anymore.
PB: Who was a player you looked up to when you first got to the Mount as a freshman?
MB: Beanie Colson. … She’s a dominating midfielder. She was and probably still is the most humble person I’ve ever met. She always did what she had to do, and she was never in it for the accolades. She was a real mentor for everyone on this team even she only played one position. She is definitely one of those people that did a lot of good things for this program and was a good person while doing it.
PB: What advice do you have for younger players who are going through the recruiting process right now?
MB: It’s a long journey. Everyone wants to be committed by Sept. 2, Sept. 3 [of junior year], but everyone’s journey looks a little bit different. And while it is nice to have those first few offers, don’t settle. There’s always something else that might be in the woodwork for you. And always have confidence in yourself. You’re the only person that can do it for you, so you have to be your No. 1 fan.
PB: What are your goals for after lacrosse?
MB: After lacrosse, I am going to school to be a physical therapist. I want to get into there, I’ll work a few years at a local practice hopefully and then I want to get back into athletics and either work with a professional team or be a PT that works specifically with athletes.
PB: Have you had any injuries in the past that turned you on to that path?
MB: I’ve always been an accident-prone child. That’s only continued as I’ve gotten farther with my athletics. I’ve been with my physical therapist at home and even the PT and AT guys up here. They really show what a good example is and how to help people. If I can give back in any way like they’ve done for me, I’d love to do that.
Photo Credit: Dave Sinclair