by Jordan Cullen
Ali Collins committed to Merrimack College on November 15, and she has received an academic and athletic scholarship for lacrosse.
Merrimack was not Collins’s first choice for schools. Boston College was her first choice because she liked both the academic options and the campus.
“BC was definitely my first choice more for a school. I definitely wasn’t looking at BC as a possible school for lacrosse.”
In her junior year, Collins decided that she wanted to play lacrosse in college.
Merrimack, which is in North Andover, Massachusetts, is close to home, but Collins would have been willing to go to a school far away if the program was something she was interested in and if she was able to get a scholarship for academics. Merrimack became interested in her as an athlete when she sent a video with clips of her best games.
Varsity lacrosse coach Richard Fulvi has been coaching for 23 years, but for two of those he has worked with Collins, who is a a goalie on the team. Even though Fulvi has only been coaching Collins for a couple of years, he believes that she is an excellent player and person.
“For the 23 years that I have been coaching I have always said, I will coach till I am blue in the face, but if I don’t have an amazing kid to really work hard and learn, then I am useless,” Fulvi said. “Ali was phenomenal last year and remains to be. The kid knows how to put in the work.”
Collins has been playing lacrosse in the spring since eighth grade. She does not play lacrosse all year long because she does cheerleading, is starting gymnastics in her senior year, and has done basketball for most of her high school career. Collins had a 71.3 save percentage last season.
Collins’s family is very proud of her achievement. “I’m happy and excited that Ali was able to sign to a great college, and I’m excited to see her succeed at Merrimack,” Morgan Collins, her sister, said.
