After attending a prospect day at VCU, junior Grace Hyde achieves her dream of playing lacrosse at the collegiate level

After the call of a lifetime, varsity lacrosse goalie Grace Hyde commited to her dream school, Virginia Commonwealth University, to play at the division one level. With the sport taking a huge part of her life these past nine years, playing at the collegiate level has always been a goal of hers.

From early on, Hyde decided VCU was the perfect fit for her. She has wanted to go to VCU before she even knew she wanted to play lacrosse there.

“I love the Richmond area; it’s so cool and artsy and cute. I really like the majors they provide and the atmosphere on campus. I just felt like I should go there from the first time I visited it,” said Hyde.

Hyde was goalie last spring as the team won the state championship, recording more than 70 saves by the end of April, and was named as a part of All-Loudoun First Team.

“My coaches inspired me a lot, especially my goalie specific coaches. They really pushed me and helped me get to where I am now. And my parents who take me to my tournaments every weekend and to my practices. Especially my mom for helping me so much, being so supportive, and pushing me through the recruiting process. I couldn’t have done it without her and all her help,” said Hyde.

Hyde must also give credit to her parents who have not only inspired her, but, in her opinion, have made majority of the sacrifices to achieve this goal.

“They’ve spent so much time and energy that they could spend somewhere else than on me and my lacrosse,” said Hyde.

Grace Hyde got the offer the day she came back from playing at VCU on a prospect day. The head coach told Hyde to set up a call with her.

“I felt good about the way I had played. She just came out and said [that they wanted me], and I was so happy,” said Hyde.

Teammate and friend since elementary school, Maddie DeCarli says that Hyde is a great teammate, leader, and goalie.

“Having her as a goalie makes it a lot less stressful to play defense because I know that even if the girl gets by one of us, Grace will be able to save the shot,” said DeCarli.  “I think that she’s to do as amazing in college as she has been doing in high school, which is pretty freaking amazing.”

On top of her skills guarding the goal, Hyde is recognized by teammates and coaches alike for her positive attitude on the field.

“She is confident and has a great sense of humor. She works hard in practice and is very serious when she needs to be, but she also makes practices fun for the players and coaches with her fun side,” said head coach Brian DeCarli.

Committing to play at VCU her junior year comes with both peace and pressure for Hyde.

“Being committed as a junior has a certain level of relief because I don’t have to worry about still working to get recruited, but it also puts some pressure on me because I want to live up to what my college coaches expect from me,” said Hyde. “For my senior year, this means I don’t have to go through the terrible process of applying to multiple different schools, but I’ll be spending that extra time training for my freshman year [in college].”

Keep an eye out for Hyde as goalie in this upcoming spring season.