Chesapeake grad winds down college lax career

Pasadena's Amanda Pappas, a former lacrosse standout at Chesapeake High, got to go away to college and live in a house with family connections all at the same time. After her freshman year at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, her parents bought a house near the campus.

They rent the house out to students and Pappas has lived there for three years, and her roommates have included lacrosse teammates and non-athletes alike. Now a senior, Pappas has had a family atmosphere on the field for the Retrievers for four years as well.

Two of her senior teammates are C.J. Durham and Kristen Milligan, whom see also played with in high school at Chesapeake. "They are two of my best friends," Pappas said. "We know each other on the field. They play defense and I play midfield. I am back there with them (on defense) a lot. I know if I mess up they are going to be there. We know each other so well."

Pappas was also teammates with Durham and Milligan on the club level with lacrosse. "C.J. and I have been playing together since sixth grade. Kristen and I have played together since third or fourth grade. My mom was our coach."

Last year Pappas was named America East All-Conference second team as she scored 34 goals, a career high. She was named UMBC player of the week for March 7-13 after she had six goals in a win over Manhattan.

Pappas' mother, Trish, also played lacrosse at Chesapeake High and her two brothers also played sports at the school. One of her brothers, Vince, played club lacrosse as a college student at Coastal Carolina.

Pappas played lacrosse, soccer and basketball all four years in high school before graduating in 2007. She looked at several schools in Maryland but ended up in suburban Baltimore at UMBC.

"I know that was one of my top choices. It all happened so fast. I had options but I like being close to home," said Pappas, who is on a partial lacrosse scholarship. She is on track to graduate in the spring and is studying sociology and aging. Pappas hopes to land a job in the field of aging and work with the elderly. "I also debating about getting into coaching," she said.

Pappas said she plans to coach with a high-level club lacrosse program this summer to test the coaching waters. She sounds like she is already a coach on the field for UMBC, which won five of its first seven games as Pappas had 13 goals and one assist. She played in the first seven games, with five starts.

"I would not say I am a very rah-rah leader. I lead by example. I talk on the field," she said. The team is strong on offense and had 20 goals in a 20-7 win over Manhattan earlier this month. "We score a lot of goals. Every person on our attack is such a threat," she said. "It is hard for us not to score goals."