Senior captain Paige Costantino is entering her final season of lacrosse this year, and she is looking forward to improving on her already successful career.
The Long Island native plans to walk in the spring, do an internship in the summer, and have her Sport Management degree by August.
It has been a four year journey for Costantino, which started back in 2011 when she visited SRU. Costantino loved the campus and everything SRU had to offer. She explained that what brought her here was a mix of the best sport management program in the country, he lacrosse team was at their peak and she wanted to continue that success.
After the first three seasons of her career at the Rock, Costantino is finally one of the three captains on the team. She is coming in as the returning leading scorer from last season, where she put up a 39 goals and 13 assists, which led to a career-high 52 points. Even with the duty of replacing last years leading scorer and All-PSAC selection, Morgan Pettit, Costantino is not letting the pressure get to her.
“I have to do what I’ve been taught to do and do what I do well,” Costantino said. “If I had that good of a season last year, I should be able to come back and do it better this year. I still have to prepare at the end of the day.”
SRU head coach Emily Hopkins speaks volumes of the type of player Costantino is. Hopkins said Costantino is a high intensity player that is committed and has a great work ethic.
“Paige is definitely a great choice for captain,” Hopkins said. “She works hard and sets an example, and she is always willing to advocate for the team as well.”
SRU needs everyone on the team to bring the same work ethic Costantino brings everyday if they are going to turn around their record from last year of 6-11.
Costantino believes this team is different from last yearsin more ways than one.
She said they have a lot of returners who saw significant time on the field last year, and that this team is comfortable with each other on and off the field.
Costantino isn’t just here for lacrosse, however. She came here to get her dream job in the sport management field.
She is currently set up for interviews with the National Basketball Association’s Charlotte Hornets, and she has connections at Madison Square Garden in New York.
She hopes one of these internships will lead to a full time job after it is all said and done.
“My dream job is in the NBA,” Costantino said. “My favorite team is the Charlotte Hornets, but I would love to work at MSG because of all the sports teams that use it.”
