A prized veteran on the Virginia women's lacrosse team, midfielder Molly Cangemi has not forgotten how to have fun and enjoy life while putting her heart into the sport. Standing at 5-foot-3, the Spanish major from Baltimore, Md., has applied excellent speed, mobility and accuracy on the field to overcome taller opponents.
"She's obviously incredibly fast, a natural lefty," Virginia coach Julie Myers said. "She has a great check, has the ability to run the midfield and to put the ball in the net. She's meant a lot to us over the four years, but what's most exciting is to see how much she's come along over the course of those four years."
Cangemi moved into the midfield just last year after playing attacker since the start of her Virginia career. Watching Cangemi grow into a leader at her new position, Myers said that Cangemi "is just really comfortable and is able to make an impact at both ends."
In her freshman season, Cangemi played as a reserve on a team that was a national finalist. Her numbers gradually increased and, last season, she made a name for herself as one of the core players on a team that went 11-7 and took a trip to the first round of the NCAA Tournament. She ranked third for Virginia in scoring with 47 points, good enough for eighth all-time in scoring as a junior. She also had five hat tricks and was the only Virginia player to have multiple games with more than three assists, defending Myers' decision to move her to midfield.
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Cangemi said that after the switch to midfield her "play just picked up. It was just a completely different game for me. I felt so much more confident. I used to back down. Now it's just a different game and I'm more involved in every possession. I think when you're a midfielder, you realize that every possession is very critical. I feel like I have a tendency to turn it over less because I'll be running down the field."
Cangemi's consistent play this season has come as no surprise for Myers, who stressed that Cangemi has taken giant leaps in her decision-making and execution.
As a person, Cangemi is both mature and very fun to be around. There are few seconds in the day when one will see her without a smile on her face. Throughout her speech she giggles and is a fun-loving, people person.
"She's a goofball," Myers said. "She giggles after every other word, but it's also something that's nice. I think players play better when they're loose instead of high-strung, and I would say that Molly is not ever going to be a high-strung person."
Beyond lacrosse, Cangemi said she loves traveling and hanging out with friends. She spent last summer in Valencia, Spain and will be living in Australia this September. As she nears the end for four years, Cangemi said she knows she will miss the Virginia scene and the friends she has made on the team.
"Our team is incredibly tight, so I have an amazing group of friends, so I hang out with them all the time," she said.
Cangemi knew several of her present teammates before coming to Virginia, having grown up with junior midfielder Lauren Aumiller and then teaming with Aumiller and senior goalkeeper Mary Beth LaVerghetta, sophomore midfielder Lauren Keller and freshman attacker Cary Chasney at Notre Dame Prep High School. Her decision to come to Virginia was heavily influenced by her years at Notre Dame.
Cangemi said her interest in lacrosse began in the third grade. Growing up in Baltimore, it was a popular sport to get involved in and she jumped on the bandwagon. Cangemi also played basketball and soccer admitted it was at first difficult to decide which sport to stick with, but she made the wise choice to devote her energies to lacrosse.
Cangemi remained active in the sport in middle school and then at Notre Dame Prep, where she had an "amazing" coach, Mary Bartel, a friend of Myers.
Cangemi said that Bartel "made me love the game. We all worshipped her. She just made it so much fun."
As for her experience playing under the direction of Myers, Cangemi couldn't speak more highly of her hard-working coach.
"She and I get along really well," Cangemi said. "She believes in me. You get the feeling that she knows you have the potential. It's just taking that step and actually putting it into action."
In retrospect, Myers said she has definitely seen Cangemi come a long way over her four years.
"I think anybody coming in at 17 and leaving at 21, 22 does a lot of maturing, and I would say that Molly definitely has grown up a lot, emerged as somebody that you can count on, that you know is going to show up everyday, that is going to be able to help us get the job done," Myers said.
"These have been, so far, the best four years of my life," Cangemi said. "I can't complain"
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