Picked to be tops in Div. 3

Allie Libby of Needham was surprised when Lacrosse magazine selected her as its preseason Player of the Year for Division 3.

"It came right out of the blue. I totally didn't expect it," said the Colby College senior. "When I first saw the magazine, I didn't know how to react. The only thing I could do was laugh."

Libby caught the magazine's attention with her performance last spring as she led Colby into the NCAA women's lacrosse tournament for the first time in the Maine school's history.

Colby set a school record for victories with 14, and Libby led the New England Small College Athletic Conference in scoring with 35 goals. She also set school records with 53 assists and 88 points for the season, and her performance earned her All-America honors.

Coincidentally, the best Division 1 player in the nation, according to the magazine, is an old friend of Libby's, Kristen Kjellman of Westwood, an All-American at Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill.

The two played on the same youth lacrosse team.

"It's funny, everybody says Maryland and Virginia are lacrosse hotbeds," said Libby, "but here are two players named the best in the nation in their division and we grew up in neighboring towns" in Massachusetts.

Colby coach Heidi Godomsky said she did a double take when she learned of Libby's honor.

"Her father and I had the same reaction when we heard she was the preseason player of the year," said Godomsky. "We both said, 'Oh, no,' and 'Oh, that's great.'

"Other teams know about her ability from last year, but now they will be looking for her because she has this national recognition."

Although Libby put up record-setting numbers last year, she is not the only dangerous scorer in the Colby lineup.

"I had a lot more assists than goals and that's because I'm surrounded by a group of talented teammates," she said.

Her coach agreed. "Allie's never been a big scorer. What makes her game so essential to our success is that she starts the scoring plays. She makes our offense go."

That's what happened last year and should be repeated this season.

Led by Libby, Colby returns most of its offensive unit.

Sophomore Kate Sheridan, a Hingham native who notched 46 goals and 13 assists last season, and junior Lauren Barrett (35-4 -- 39) know how to find the net. Sophomore Becky Julian (21-6 -- 27) is another offensive threat.

With all this firepower back, the Mules are in the limelight.

Colby, which finished last season ranked 11th in the national poll, was ranked eighth by Lacrosse magazine and ninth in the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association's preseason poll.

But it's not how you start, says the coach, it's how you finish that counts.

"We'd rather be ranked in the top 10 at the end of the season instead of before it begins," said Godomsky.

It's a positive attitude to take, considering Colby's rocky start this spring.

The team dropped a 10-7 decision at home to unranked Trinity College in the season opener. Trinity scored seven straight goals in the first half, shocking the Mules, who never recovered.

"That was a bummer," Libby said, "but I think it will help us in the long run. Because we lost, it made for a good couple of weeks of practice. It showed us that we can't win with our reputation. We have a lot of work to do and we can't take anything for granted."

Ten days after its season opener, Colby crushed Bates College, 17-10, in Lewiston, Maine. Colby did not waste much time establishing itself as the Mules outscored the host school, 7-1, in the first 12 minutes 33 seconds of play. Libby led the way with three goals and four assists.

Heading into yesterday's game against Middlebury College in Vermont, Colby was 3-2 on the season.

"We probably dropped in the polls after the Trinity game," Libby said, "but I think it might have been a good thing for us."