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More Than a Number
Created: 5/13/2002 9:24:17 AM
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For just a second, forget the numbers.
Forget the goals-against average that would be the envy of most goalkeepers in the country. Forget all the saves she's already made, and all the saves she will end up making in her historic career. Forget the number that precedes the team name, a national ranking that was more dream than reality before she ever sported the Cornell colors. Forget the wins amassed by a program on the rise, a rise that not so coincidentally began after she attended her first set of classes on the East Hill.
Now don't lose track of those numbers completely, because there is little doubt about their significance to the program. But if you get lost in the numbers, and you can, you might miss the best parts of senior goaltender Carrie Giancola. After all, the goaltender is only one part of the person.
She was in fourth grade, and Giancola had a decision to make. She had been singing for a few years, but she was now able to choose an instrument. It's not exactly a world-altering moment, but it's a big choice for a young girl who loves music. The cello and the bass were probably fun instruments, but they had a pretty major hindrance.
"They were just too big," said the 5-foot, 2-inch Giancola. Advantage, violin.
In a family full of athletes (more on that later), the oldest of four siblings became an accomplished musician. She was earning money performing in productions by the time she reached fifth grade. Much like a lot of children, she was in the choir. Hers' just happened to be the Syracuse Children's Choir.
Her musical acumen continued at Fayetteville-Manlius High School, located just outside of Syracuse. Besides being an All-American in lacrosse as a senior and a two-time all-league selection in soccer, Giancola did the school play during the winter. When she wasn't the lead goalkeeper for her high school lacrosse squad, she was the lead in Crazy for You, Meet Me in St. Louis and Oklahoma. Not only are the time demands great for both athletics and the arts (not to mention being a student and a teenager at the same time), but you also need to be diversified to be successful at both.
"Some things are similar, but a lot of it is completely different," she said. "To be a good athlete, you need to have a competitive nature. For music, you need a more creative side. They are similar, though, in that you need to have discipline. You can't be good at either without practice."
In the end, though, one has to win out over the other. To do one at the next level - and to do it well - Giancola either had to sacrifice the late rehearsals or the extra practices. Fortunately for Cornell, she chose the former.
A part of her still wishes she could do another play. If she could only have one more role, she knows which one she'd pick.
"Rizzo, from Grease," Giancola said. "I always played the comedic stereotype role. Her role is more fun. I wouldn't want to be Sandy, the lovey-dovey role."
If you know Carrie, you know she'd hit the role. You probably can't say that for all first-team All-Ivy goaltenders for nationally ranked lacrosse teams, but she's just too funny to not shine as Rizzo. Or anybody else. But Rizzo, well, that just works.
One victory over the past year elicited a particularly emotional response from Giancola. It was a victory two weeks ago against William & Mary.
Don't remember it? Well, you just haven't been following the team close enough. The team, of course, is Towson University, an unranked squad that disposed of the 19th-ranked Tribe by an 8-7 score last week. One of the midfielders on the up-and-coming squad is sophomore Abby Giancola, one of Carrie's three younger siblings.
"I'm just so proud of her," said Giancola, complete with rosy cheeks and misty eyes. "When she was a freshman, she wasn't sure about herself. She's happy now, and she's playing for herself. She was just glowing on the phone when we talked about (the win over William & Mary). I really wanted her to come here. The best experience ever was playing sports with her in high school, and I just wanted to carry that on."
It certainly would have made the travel schedule lighter for the Giancola parents, Charles and Jacqueline. Had they bought stock in highlighters and road maps some time ago, it might have covered some significant driving expenses over the years.
"We have a cupboard in our house with my schedule, Abby's schedule and (younger brother) Trevor's schedule," Carrie said, referring to the two collegiate lacrosse seasons and one high school lacrosse season that send the Giancolas around - and sometimes beyond - the Northeast. "They have all of our games highlighted, with who is going to see who. They've gone from Baltimore to see Abby to Dartmouth to see me and back to Albany to see another one of Abby's games. They've gone from Princeton to see me in a day game to home for one of Trevor's night games."
An amazing career is not simply the by-product of the athlete alone. There's something to be said for having those familiar faces in the stands, the familiar voices on the phone.
Oh, and one more thing about the Giancolas. Carrie is a goalie, and Abby is a midfielder. Trevor is an attackman. The youngest, Charlie, enjoys - you guessed it - defense. If your family is looking to challenge another household to a lacrosse contest, pass this one by. Too much balance here.
OK, so while her goaltending isn't the full story of Carrie Giancola, it's certainly a big part of it. It will also be part of the story of Cornell's surge into national prominence.
One day after Jenny Graap '86 accepted the head coaching position four years ago, she began selling her plans to her first recruiting class. Her first client was Giancola, who admittedly wasn't exactly thrilled at the prospect of going to Cornell after one conversation.
"She was so persistent," Giancola remembered. "She called every week, whenever she was allowed to. It was so personal. She made it clear to me that she was turning the program around."
After some stressful nights awaiting her acceptance letter, Giancola was a key part of a highly touted class of recruits. Those young girls are now young women, and they played a major part in bringing the program along in their own growth processes. There were ECAC playoffs as freshmen, an ECAC championship as sophomores and an NCAA tournament berth as juniors. Before her senior season, various lacrosse pundits circled Cornell as one of the teams that should make the NCAA tournament again. Other high school girls now see the Big Red lacrosse program differently than she once did.
It's tough to come up with a bigger compliment for any athlete. Maybe this team will win the Ivy League, and maybe it won't. Maybe it will reach the Final Four, maybe it will even hoist a national title when it's all said and done. But this is clear - regardless of how Giancola's career ends, she was a component of a group that blazed a new trail.
-- by Craig Sachson, Cornell Assistant Athletics Communications Director
To paraphrase Rizzo, there are worse things you could do.
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Related Schools: Cornell
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Related Sports: Lacrosse
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*This Article has been archived.*
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