Krystin Porcella remembers the day in the spring of her sophomore year at John Carroll School, back in 1992, when she decided to play lacrosse.
“I was a softball player and John Hughes [then John Carroll lacrosse coach] begged me to come out as a freshman and I tried it,” Porcella recalled. “After a couple of days of softball practice I said I really like lacrosse and he welcomed me back to the team.”
The rest is history for Porcella, who went on to become a standout at John Carroll and Loyola University. Porcella, now the girls’ lacrosse coach at her high school alma-mater, has been selected for induction into the Greater Baltimore Chapter of U.S. Lacrosse Hall of Fame.
Porcella will join Joe Breschi, Michelle Meyer Dwan, Anne Ensor, Quint Kessenich, Butch Marino, Stephanie Roberts Radebaugh, Tony Seaman, Gina Roberts Ubriaco and Michael Watson in the 2011 class. They’ll be inducted in late January at the Grand Mason Lodge in Hunt Valley.
Porcella was on vacation with her husband in Cabo a few weeks ago when she heard the news. She’s excited about being inducted alongside former college teammates Meyer Dwan and Roberts Radebaugh and Roberts Ubriaco.
“It’s a tremendous honor, just looking at some of the people in the class including three people that went to Loyola I considered the best I’ve ever played with,” said Porcella. “It’s pretty awesome.”
A soccer and lacrosse star at John Carroll, Porcella excelled in both sports at then-Loyola College for four years before graduating in 1998. In lacrosse, she helped the Greyhounds reach the national title in 1997 and was a first-team All-American defender in her senior season.
She spent two seasons as an assistant at Virginia Tech before returning to her alma-mater to serve as defensive coordinator from 2000-2004. Porcella returned to John Carroll in 2004, guiding the Patriots to IAAM A Conference championships in 2007 and 2008.
“They’re [high schoolers] still learning about themselves, and it’s an opportunity to have a positive impact. I enjoy that part the most,” said Porcella. “When they get college, they’re kind of set in their ways and you’re helping them move towards a career.”
Earlier in the year, Porcella received the greatest honor in her career when she was selected to coach the U.S. U-19 women’s team in the 2011 Federation of International Lacrosse World Championship in Göttingen, Germany.
Not bad for a person who originally wanted to play softball during her spring seasons in high school.
“Thank goodness there were good influences in my life. I’ve been on great teams and coached wonderful players, but the friends that I’ve made and successes, I thank those people tremendously,” said Porcella. “I reflect often about being involved in lacrosse and how a couple of influences, here and there, make a big difference in the long run.”
Ensor, who played at the University of New Hampshire, has been the girls’ lacrosse coach at Hereford the past 15 years, winning three straight Class 1A/2A state titles from 2001-2003.
Watson, a C. Markland Kelly Award winner in his senior season at St. Paul’s School in 1993, as well as the Baltimore Sun’s Male Athlete of the Year, was a four-time All-American at the University of Virginia. He led the Cavaliers to the national title game in 1994 and 1996.
Breschi charted his Hall of Fame course in the mid-eighties as a star player at Loyola Blakefield before going on to become a two-time All-American at North Carolina. He’s also a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference 50th Anniversary men’s lacrosse team.
Breschi spent seven years as a college assistant, with stints at UNC and Brown, before spending the next 11 years as the head coach at Ohio State University.
In 2010, he returned to Chapel Hill to become head coach at his alma mater and had the Tar Heels within one win of their first NCAA Final Four appearance in 16 years.
He also immediately rekindled the recruiting pipeline to his home town. Last spring, Gilman’s Marcus Holman and Greg McBride had a tremendous impact as freshman. And, this spring his freshman class will include Frankie Kelly of Calvert Hall, Duncan Hutchins of Gilman, Mark McNeill of St. Mary’s, and RG Keenan and Patrick Foster of Boys’ Latin, and Connor Hunt of Severna Park.
Kessenich also has local ties, having coached many years, on a part time basis at Boys’ Latin. He was an All-American goalkeeper Johns Hopkins University and is the premiere television color analyst in lacrosse. He has also become a regular on many ESPN sportscasts, including wrestling, basketball, football and horse racing.
