Sports
Milligan aids UMBC in hunt for league title
Chesapeake High grad wanted to stay close to home for college.
Kristen Milligan, at the time a lacrosse standout at Chesapeake High, grew wary of looking at possible colleges. "The recruiting process is tiring," she said.
But she said her parents, Sue and Norman Milligan of Pasadena, encouraged her to make weekend visits to colleges and helped her figure out what she was looking for. "I realized I wanted to stay close to home," said Milligan, a two-time U.S. Lacrosse Academic All-American in high school.
That has been good news for the women's lacrosse program at Maryland, Baltimore County. Milligan started the first 11 games as a freshman in 2008 but missed the last five with an injury. As a sophomore she played in six games, with two starts, while coming back from a foot injury. Last year as a junior she played in 18 games, with 13 starts, and had three goals and one assist. She has been honored by the America East Conference for her mix of academic success and play on the field.
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This season the senior midfielder/defender played in the first nine games, with eight starts, and did not score. The Retreivers, who host New Hampshire on March 26 at noon, won six of their first nine games.
Last year UMBC lost, 11-10, to Boston University in the title game of the America East Conference. "We lost that game by one goal," said Milligan, whose team was 11-7 overall in 2010. "That has motivated us since fall workouts. It was just not enough."
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Milligan, who also played basketball and soccer in high school, is on track to graduate this spring as a physics major. She plans to begin graduate school in the fall at Northern Arizona University and would like to encourage young women to get involved in physics and related fields.
Milligan, 22, said she would like to stay involved in lacrosse and would like to coach one day, perhaps at the high school level. She was a four-year member of the honor roll at Chesapeake, was a MVP in soccer and led the Cougars to the state semifinals in 2005. She has an older sister, Ashley, and a younger brother, Joey.
