Though Carolyn Gorajek '13 scored half of the women's lacrosse team's goals in a 10-9 victory over Connecticut College last weekend, she was not aiming for a personal record.
"I didn't really know how many goals I had until afterward," she said. "I wasn't even thinking about [me personally] scoring—I was just thinking about how close the game was, how every single goal mattered so much."
Going against the Camels last Saturday, Gorajek tied the game at halftime with two goals, putting the score at 6-6. She scored her latter three points in the second half, including the last two goals of the game for Bowdoin. With an additional assist, Gorajek led the Polar Bears to their fourth straight win.
Gorajek scored two more goals when the team defeated Colby on Wednesday night, putting the Bears at an 8-1 record (4-1 NESCAC).
"I'm trying not to let my head get too much in the way," Gorajek said on Tuesday, even though "these last three games have boosted my confidence a lot."
Even as a first year, Gorajek played hard and scored a lot last spring, starting in all 16 games and ending the season with 24 goals and 11 assists.
"She was one of our top players in points as a first year, and she's certainly taken [on that role] again," said coach Elizabeth Grote. "Carolyn is really confident with the ball, and obviously finds the net."
On the field, Gorajek calls plays and makes decisions with the other attackers, according to Grote.
"Carolyn is the epitome of a team player," she said. "She takes the bumps and bruises... and never complains about anything."
Gorajek's composure on the field comes from a lifelong involvement in sports.
"I grew up playing lacrosse," she said. "My parents started the league in our town, so I would always throw around with them."
"I loved playing in high school," she added. "I love the competition, the challenging aspect of it."
Gorajek went to the Peddie School in Hightstown, New Jersey, where she also played soccer. However, she didn't join the Bowdoin soccer team until this year.
"I wanted to make sure I could balance school and lacrosse," she explained. "But then I realized [being a student-athlete at Bowdoin] was doable... so I tried out this year."
Many women's lacrosse players are multi-sport athletes; Gorajek said that about half of her teammates play two sports at Bowdoin.
Grote is also the assistant coach for women's soccer, which "just lets me see [Gorajek] on a little bit of a different level," she said. "Carolyn is very easy to coach on both teams, though."
"A lot of [teammates] look up to her even though she's a sophomore," Grote added.
Playing lacrosse for Bowdoin is "very exciting," said Gorajek. "The NESCAC is such a challenging league, so every league game is also a nationally-ranked, intense game."
With this year's new attackers and defenders, the team has "really thrown [opposing] teams a challenge," Gorajek added.
"We're working great off each other, building upon what we started last year. But," she said, "we've got a big week coming up—we're starting to play a lot of the tougher NESCAC teams."