Spirit, as much as skill, makes Algonquin's Lindsey Brown a top field hockey recruit

NORTHBOROUGH - Lindsey Brown never stops.

As Algonquin's center midfielder, the junior races the length the field hockey pitch. She stickhandles around defenders, splits defenses with passes long and short and quarterbacks the Titans penalty corner attempts.

When Brown doesn't have the ball, she sprints to win it back or strategically steps into open space or a cleaner passing lane, drawing defenders.

"She can run it up fields, she's absolutely amazing," Algonquin junior Annelise Gingrich said. "She can get past anyone. You just have to trust her."

Even on the bench, Brown bustles. She dances and sticks her tongue out, making faces at smiling teammates. Brown tells them she loves them and alerts them when their skirt is on backward. After the game she bounces on a knee or talks with her hands in the postmortem coaches' conversation.

"She has so much energy. She will do anything you ask, and she'll do things that you don't even ask her to do," Algonquin coach Dan Welty said. "She's a great kid, and then she's a great teammate to everybody and leading by example. She's the most fun person. I think the biggest thing that sticks out is her personality. She's so excited about everything."

Need waters? Brown is on it. Pick up that ball? Brown's there. Go check on masks? Brown is already halfway there. Despite pouring three goals into the nets in the Titans' home opener against Marlborough, she left the huddle first to put them away after the game.

"That's the thing, yes, her skills and where her field hockey game play is, but you've got to look at the amazing person she is," Welty said. "She's an amazingly fun and personal person. That's something that shines through."

Incredibly bright to outshine her accomplishments on the field. Brown ranks among the top 50 field hockey recruits in the Class of 2025 according to Maxfieldhockey.com and committed to Northwestern, the current No. 2 team in the country and the 2021 national champions. The Wildcats reached the 2022 national title game, as well.

The Titans are 3-1-1 in 2023 and have allowed just three goals in five games. Brown has put away four goals with an assist, as Algonquin eyes a Division 1 tournament run.

"Once in every 10 years I get a kid like this," said Chris Pothier, the director of Cape Ann Field Hockey, Brown's club team.

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Field hockey entered Brown's life when she started middle school at Tahanto. She played ice hockey for most of her life and figured she should give it a try. It had hockey in the name, why not? Brown enjoyed the game's structure and rules but delighted in pushing their limits.

"This may sound weird, but playing within the rules and then finding ways to almost exploit the rules and use them to your advantage, it's super fun to find those loopholes and keep going forward," Brown said.

Three years later she traded her skates for cleats permanently. Brown fell in love and quit ice hockey to focus on field hockey full time. That meant joining the Cape Ann Field Hockey Club U14 program in seventh grade. It took time to break some of her ice hockey habits, but her effort persevered.

"She’s the hardest worker and most disciplined player we have in her graduating class," Pothier said. "She’s not the most talented, naturally gifted kid, but she makes up for that with her hard work and her discipline to getting better."

Getting better meant testing herself against the best. Brown participated in USA Field Hockey's Nexus program, which feeds into the national team. It showed her the level of field hockey played in power states like New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Maryland.

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"Once certain kids see that, they’re like, 'I can never be that good 'or with Lindsey it’s like, 'OK, that is the standard,'" Pothier said. "I need to do that."

She advanced from the Nexus Championship to the U16 national team selection camp in Houston, Texas. The top 75 players in the country gathered for an opportunity to represent their country. Only four players from Massachusetts made the cut.

"When I stepped on that field I took it all in," Brown said. "I can do something with this in my life. It's just not just a hobby anymore. This could be something I can like make out of my life."

College coaches embraced her talent and personality. More than a dozen contacted Pothier on June 15, the first day college coaches can reach out to players entering their junior year by phone or email. American University coach Steve Jennings sent Pothier a letter in part recruiting Brown but mostly complimenting her personality.

"It said 'whatever you’re doing at your club, whatever Lindsey’s doing, keep doing it because that’s the kind of kid we want to see involved in the sport at the highest level,'" Pothier recalled.

Brown wasn't selected for the U16 national team but will remain in the program's pipeline. She's a strong candidate for the U18 squad, and her goal is to make that team. The camp process will begin in December followed by another in February and a third in March.

"If she gets selected from that she would be named to the U18 national team roster which is even a bigger accomplishment and sets her up well to stay in the pathway as she ages and eventually make it to the Olympic team," said Mary Beth Zahnleuter, USA Field Hockey's Junior Manager of Junior High Performance. "These kids that are this age group right now like Lindsey are who we need for the L.A. 2028 Olympics. This is who will be playing in them. This is key that she’s involved in the pathway at this time, it’s a big compliment to her."

The only way she'll get there is to keep going forward. Good luck stopping her.

Contact Kyle Grabowski at kgrabowski@gannett.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @kylegrbwsk. 

This article originally appeared on MetroWest Daily News: Northwestern field hockey commit Lindsey Brown leading Algonquin