Navy women’s lacrosse junior Emily Messinese recently chatted with PressBox about recovering from a torn ACL, her big bounce-back season and more. The 5-foot-4 midfielder scored 49 goals, dished out 12 assists, picked up 25 ground balls and won 62 draws in 2023, earning first-team All-Patriot League honors. Messinese is a native of Manchester, Md., and graduate of Gerstell Academy.
PressBox: How did you become interested in lacrosse?
Emily Messinese: It was mainly because my sister, [Lauren]. My sister’s a year older than me, so whatever she did, I kind of did — as a kid, especially. We played a ton of sports, like swimming, basketball, soccer. Kind of did everything, and then my dad, [Joseph], started coaching us for rec lacrosse when we started playing. Played rec through elementary school, then started playing club for Sky Walkers in middle school and then just continued on from there.
PB: Who were the biggest influences on your game growing up?
EM: Definitely my dad because he coached me all through elementary school and then also my sister, I’d say, because we played together from elementary school all the way through high school. That made it really easy to grow as a player because we were able to play at home and practice together on our off time but also play in games together and things like that. My best friend, Kennedy Major, goes to Maryland now, but I played club with her at Sky Walkers all through middle school — also rec and elementary school with her. Also, we went to Gerstell together in high school and continued to play club and high school together. Definitely those three people had the most influence on me.
PB: Your sister plays lacrosse at Rutgers. Was it competitive growing up? How did you two push each other?
EM: I would say it was competitive. We are very similar but also very different, especially sports-wise. She’s more of a defender and I’m more of an attacker, so that helped a lot growing up. We were able to do one-on-ones. She was playing defense on me while I was dodging, so that helps a lot. But I feel like once we got to high school and we started to realize we had different strengths and weaknesses, we played together for fun and it wasn’t as competitive. But like I said before, it was nice to have someone at home that was able to play with me whenever I wanted to.
PB: Do you ever get a chance to see each other play in college?
EM: Not often, but normally in the fall I’ll be able to make one or two of her games. [Like] my freshman year, this year she’ll be playing at Maryland so I think I’ll be able to go to that game. I try to go to her games that are in the area, which is nice because Hopkins is a Big Ten school, Maryland’s a Big Ten school, so those are pretty close and when she’s playing there, normally I am able to go to those games, but other than that, normally our schedules conflict so we don’t get to see much of each other playing anymore.
PB: Why did you choose to go to Navy?
EM: My dad put a big emphasis for me and my sister on not just choosing a school for lacrosse. Lacrosse is just an added pro to coming here. I knew I wanted to make sure that I was set up for after lacrosse was over because I knew eventually lacrosse was going to end and after college I would have to find a job and figure out life outside of lacrosse more. I knew that Navy would set me up great for that. It eased my mind knowing I was going to a school that after graduation I wouldn’t have to worry about having a job or finding a job. And then also on top of that it being the top public school, it was kind of a no-brainer — great school, great leadership school which was really important to me and then also I got to play lacrosse at a very high level.
PB: What’s your favorite memory at Navy so far?
EM: Lacrosse-wise, I would say beating Jacksonville last year was a very awesome memory. It was spring break, so we got to spend a lot of time as a team together from being off. We beat them by one, so it was a really, really good game. That was definitely the highlight of the season last year, and then also I would say [the Herndon Monument Climb] after plebe year was a great memory because it’s symbolizing plebe year being over. The hardest year at the Academy was done, and also being with my whole class is really memorable.
PB: You suffered a torn ACL five games into your freshman season in 2022. What was the process like coming back?
EM: It was our fifth game against St. Joe’s my plebe year. I got pushed when I was dodging and landed on it wrong. I found out a few days later that it was torn. I was able to get surgery pretty fast, so my recovery started in April [2022]. It was really hard being at school because we have more restrictions than other schools, so I was doing PT off the Yard at True Sports in Glen Burnie. They helped me a lot [to] get back really quickly and gain my strength again. It was really hard. It was a lot of lifting, which helped my quad grow pretty fast. The summer was challenging because I was trying to do training for school while also keep doing my recovery and start running again, cutting and playing lacrosse again. But luckily I was able to come back pretty fast. I was cleared by October the next fall. I didn’t play any fall games, but I was able to start practicing with my team, which helped a lot to be ready for the season. I practiced with my sister and Kennedy and my boyfriend and got my knee used to running a lot again, lifting and the physical part of lacrosse.
PB: How were you able to bounce back with a 49-goal season in 2023?
EM: The biggest thing is I was able to make it through the whole season without any injuries. I think my teammates really helped me, like pushing me in practice and stuff. It was really hard coming back from the season I hadn’t played to starting over playing at the college level. My boyfriend is on the men’s team. Him, my sister and Kennedy, my best friend from home, pushed me a lot over winter break going into the season last year to make sure I was ready to come back fully after being injured, so that helped a lot.
PB: What’s your favorite thing about Annapolis?
EM: Definitely being on the water. It does make it colder and windy in the winter, but in the summer it’s really, really nice — a lot of pretty views and see all the sailboats and everything, it’s real nice.
PB: Who’s your best friend on the team and what’s a story that underscores your friendship?
EM: My best friend on the team is definitely Alyssa Daley. We got pretty close after I got injured [in 2022], but I actually knew her in high school. She’s from Maryland as well. We were close my junior and senior year and then obviously came here and got even closer. She takes the draw for our team, and I think our friendship shows through that just because we do very well on the draw, especially with me, her and Ava Yovino all being really close. We always know where she’s trying to go, what she’s thinking — even when we’re not communicating directly.
PB: You had 62 draw controls last year. How have you developed in that regard at Navy? Is that a skill that you’ve always had? What’s the art behind it?
EM: I’ve always been on the circle, in the draw unit. I would say I took it more in high school, but once I got to Navy I kind of just started being on the circle. The group that you’re doing it with is really makes it successful, so me, Alyssa and Ava work really, really well together. That also just comes from practicing it at practice, but I think the most important thing for it is just your first step being quick off the line and getting to where you want to go first to get the ball cleanly.
PB: Who was a player you looked up to when you first got to Navy?
EM: I would definitely say Christine Fiore. She was a great captain and had a really good balance of leading and then also being our friend and taking care of us. She also was super, super strong on the field as a defender. She was very helpful my plebe year to make me better on the field but also off the field.
PB: What advice do you have for younger players in the recruiting process?
EM: I would say make sure that you ask the hard questions. I think every coach is going to kind of show you the highlights of their school. With that, also make sure you have your non-negotiables going into your recruiting process so that you, one, can ask about those and also know what you’re looking for in a school. But ultimately, the people make the place so I think being with the team, how you interact with the coaches tells you a lot about how your experience is going to be at that school.
PB: What are your goals for after lacrosse?
EM: As of now, I’m still undecided on what I want to do in the military. I’m between either Navy Pilot or Marine Ground right now. Other than that, I’m not really sure. I’m just taking it one step at a time, so I’ll figure that part out then go to the next step.
Photo Credit: Phil Hoffmann/Navy Athletics