By Craig Gilvarg, Staff Writer

May 17, 2015

Worcester, MA --- The numbers, though, do come for the Ashland native and Worcester State women's lacrosse standout. And they come in droves. But they're merely a byproduct, the result of her ability to set an offense, direct the action. And if she is counting a number, it's not goals that interest her.

"For Jackie, it's the assists," said Worcester State coach Deb Draper. "She's just as proud of every assist she dishes out as she is for the goals. She very much values them because she's a playmaker."

It's part of the reason she was able to set the Lancers' single season assist record last season with 38. And it also helped her earn MASCAC First Team All-Conference honors this past season, her junior season, for the third straight year.

"I like to see how the play turns out and see what they can do with it," said Connors. "I like watching my teammates score and get the glory of it. That's what gets me fired up — them scoring and me being able to watch it."

Connors had plenty of opportunity to do that this season. She was outstanding once again for the Lancers, scoring 46 goals and adding 23 assists, with her 69 points coming in at second on the team behind only Kalia Chase's 74. Worcester State went 13-6 and reached the semifinals of the MASCAC Tournament before being eliminated by Westfield State.

But Connors' contribution can't be defined by numbers on a page. It's everything that happens before the tally where she most displays her value.

"She's kind of the field general, particularly down on the offense," said Draper. "She's just a smart player who knows where she is on the field, and she makes great choices out there helping control the ball a lot of times.

"I always expect the most from her. I always expect that something great is going to happen when the ball hits her stick."

It was clear Connors had the respect of her teammates when the team voted to elect her captain as a junior before the season started. She's been re-elected to serve as captain next season as well.

"It meant a lot to me," said Connors. "It just meant my peers respected me as a person and a player, just to be out there directing them."

According to Draper, Connors isn't the most vocal leader. She's not likely to deliver a stirring speech, or become overly emotional at any time.

But an ability to communicate is critical to what allows Connors to thrive in her role.

"The communication between me and my teammates, and my teammates with each other, everything just works really well," said Connors.

In that sense, she's had no problem fitting in. She made an immediate impact upon taking the field as a freshman, leading the team with 70 points (40 goals, 30 assists).

That was back when she was a two-sport athlete. She entered Worcester State as a member of both the soccer and lacrosse teams. She even served as the team manager for the women's basketball team, and entertained the idea of trying to play three sports.

"Just for a brief second," Connors said with a chuckle.

In the end, two sports proved somewhat hard to handle. She felt she couldn't give her full effort in either sport. She would miss the spring season for soccer, and the fall season for lacrosse.

"It's like you're there, but you're not really there," said Connors.

And so she had a decision to make. But really, it was no decision at all. She first picked up a lacrosse stick as a freshman at Ashland High School. Since then, it's been her greatest passion.

"I just fell in love with it," said Connors. "It was just natural. It wasn't forced, it just happened. Once I picked up a lacrosse stick everything just fell into place."

With lacrosse her sole focus as a sophomore, she improved upon her already tremendous numbers from the year prior, scoring 48 goals and assisting on 38 others, shattering the previous mark of 32 set by Ann Clark in 2007.

Ask her about it, though, and she reacts much the same way she plays — passing the glory on to others.

"It wasn't just me," said Connors. "I pass them the ball, my teammates have to finish it. I wouldn't have been able to break the record if they didn't score the goals."

After her performance this season, Connors also holds the career record for draw controls (198) and caused turnovers (79). With just a year left, she is 25 points away from second place on the team's all-time scoring list.

But then again, such things have never really been of interest to her.

"She's not someone who is playing for the stats," said Draper. "She's playing for the team."

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