Courtesy of Brian Beard

Emelia Krakora ’24 is a midfielder and captain on the women’s lacrosse team, recently named NESCAC Player of the Week and currently second on the team in goals (21).

Krakora started playing lacrosse in fourth grade after her older sister picked up the sport.

“My sister had recently picked up lacrosse and I really admired my older sister and wanted to be like her,” Krakora said.

She recalls going to a yard sale, finding a few lacrosse sticks and practicing with her brother and her sister.

“We were all just passing around in the front yard, I remember, and then I just fell in love with the sport,” she said.

As time went on, she grew more serious about the sport.

“Going into high school I definitely started working a lot harder and hitting and shooting more every single day,” she said. “My dad was a college athlete and so he would go out and shoot with me.”

She remembers watching older lacrosse players like Taylor Trainer, Taylor Cummings and Kylie O’Miller.

“I was so inspired just to see how awesome they were; I always looked up to players like that,” she said.

Krakora loves the individual aspect of lacrosse. Besides a base-level athleticism, she noted the need for good stick skills.

“You have to be fast and change direction, but you also have to have endurance, especially as a midfielder,” she said.

But Krakora is also a huge team player, and as captain, she has had to get her team on the same page.

“[The team] has definitely provided me with a lot of support. Especially being a leader on the team, I think I’ve learned a lot of valuable life lessons outside of the classroom that I’m going to be able to carry with me for the rest of my life,” she said.

“I know they all have my back and I have their backs. And definitely feeling that support from teammates has been really awesome,” she said.

Krakora was drawn to playing lacrosse at Bowdoin specifically by Head Coach Liz Grote and Assistant Coach Kara Finnerty. Krakora appreciated Grote’s straightforward attitude toward the recruiting process.

“She was always a no-nonsense type of person and I definitely relate to that. I like to work hard, and she was drawn to that. Being able to learn from her and [Finnerty] has been a positive,” she said.

The team has elevated expectations this year with the goal of being in the top four of NESCAC and earning a bid to the NCAA tournament. Last year’s season ended in the NESCAC quarterfinals against Middlebury College.

“Knowing that we didn’t earn that spot, we came back this year with a chip on our shoulder and knowing that we wanted to work a lot harder, and that we had these specific things we want to work on,” she said.

Krakora said the first half of the season started slow, with a lot of injuries and an early loss against Connecticut College that acted as a turning point for the team. Following that game, a win against Amherst College boosted team morale—its first NESCAC win of the season.

Krakora added that the Amherst game on March 23 has been a highlight of her career so far.

“We weren’t satisfied with the way we were playing and took full ownership of that.… It all came together in the Amherst game; it was such a full team win. Every person just stepped up their game and elevated so much. Everyone was cheering for each other and so excited,” she said.

For the remainder of the season, Krakora hopes to improve on her draw control, dodging and shooting. The team also wants to focus on connecting all over the field defensively and focusing on moving the ball together.

“We are meshing and finding our chemistry,” she said. “I’m excited to keep playing. We’ve had a taste of what winning felt like. Everyone’s just super excited to keep working hard and practicing to carry this momentum into the back half of the season. We’re never settling.”

The team will play Williams College at noon tomorrow.