Katie Pascale

Most women’s lacrosse sticks are between 3 and 3.5 feet tall. Katie Pascale says lacrosse has been a part of her life since her stick was taller than she was.

“When I was in Kindergarten, I went to my first lacrosse camp,” Pascale said. “The stick just never fell out of my hand.”

In high school at Baldwinsviile, Pascale was the MVP of the 2019 lacrosse team that won sectional and regional championships. But as several of Pascale’s teammates all went their separate ways to play NCAA Division I lacrosse, she turned down Power Five offers to play at UAlbany.

“I saw plenty of ACC schools and bigger programs,” Pascale said. “There was just something intimate and family-like about UAlbany. I knew on my first visit to UAlbany that it was where I wanted to be.”

All Pascale did in college was rewrite the UAlbany record book. She is the only women’s lacrosse player to ever score 300 career points in her career at UAlbany and one of only five women in the America East Conference to do so. She holds program records in scoring, assists, and draw controls by wide margins.

“She was very highly recruited nationally with many top teams looking at her,” UAlbany head coach Katie Thomson said. “She gave her all and took the program to new heights.”

Pascale was recognized for her efforts as an Inside Lacrosse Preseason and Midseason All-American, a two-time All-America Honorable Mention, a four-time All-Region selection, a two-time America East Midfielder of the Year, and a two-time consecutive America East Scholar-Athlete. The latter award recognizes her play on the field as well as academic achievements. She graduated with a 3.66 cumulative GPA and is the fourth player in program history to earn America East All-Academic honors three times and one of the three to have earned the conference’s Scholar-Athlete honors twice.

When it comes to academics, Pascale credits her mother, a former Syracuse basketball player, and the faculty at UAlbany.

“My mom taught me how to keep my things super organized, which is important in accounting,” Pascale said. “UAlbany also had great professors and a great athletic advising program.

And while her gaudy lacrosse statistics are undoubtedly the product of Pascale’s hard work and determination, she says she couldn’t have done it without her teammates.

“The career points record shows how great the team is,” she said. “I was always an assist-first girl. I’m thankful to have been surrounded by a great team, they made my experience better from the time I was a freshman.”

Pascale said UAlbany became a home away from home for her because of the closeness of her teammates along with the greater Albany community. She worked alongside her teammates to develop local youth lacrosse players through the CityLax program.

“Anything that involves younger kids is awesome,” Pascale said. “I love seeing little kids look up to us and show up to our games. We want to be well known in the community.”