Katzie Nation Native heads south on a scholarship

Though she still only has a limited amount of field lacrosse experience, an Aboriginal teen from British Columbia will soon by heading to the U.S. on a scholarship.

Selena Lasota, an 18-year-old who lives in Campbell River and is a member of the Katzie First Nation, accepted a scholarship offer from Illinois’ Northwestern University Wildcats.

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Lasota, a box lacrosse veteran, caught the attention of a Northwestern coach while she was playing in her very first field lacrosse tournament. That event was held in Naples, Florida.
“We played five games and I scored about 15 goals,” said Lasota, who was playing for Team B.C., a female field lacrosse travel squad that also participated at a tournament in Palm Springs, Calif.

Lasota was asked to contact Northwestern officials upon her return to Canada following the Naples tournament. Soon thereafter she was offered a full scholarship, a deal she accepted this past November.

Though field lacrosse is played on the size of a football field, Lasota said it is not a huge adjustment playing there after growing up playing box lacrosse in arenas.

“The game is almost the same as box lacrosse,” she said. “You just have a different stick that you need to adapt to.”

Lasota, who  will study Human Development and Psychological Services, will leave for Northwestern on Sept. 1.

A pair of other schools, Ohio State University and Long Island University, had also expressed an interest in Lasota.

“Northwestern just clicked for me right away,” she said. “Before I committed I didn’t visit the school. But they were always very thoughtful.”

Before she was asked to get in touch, Lasota admits she had never previously heard of the school, which is located in Evanston, a Chicago suburb.

But the more she discovered about the school the more she loved it.

“I know they’ve got a really good lacrosse program,” she said. “And I know they’ve won seven national championships.”

The Wildcats have been an NCAA powerhouse during the past decade. They won five straight national title from 2005-09.

Northwestern also captured back-to-back NCAA championships in 2011 and 2012.

And during the past two years the Wildcats were semi-finalists at the national tournament, posting an over-all record of 19-3 last season and a 14-7 record in 2014.

Lasota started playing box lacrosse, on boys’ teams, when she was about nine years old.

“I stopped playing with the boys in 2012 because I thought I’d get hurt,” she said.

For the past two years Lasota has played for the Nanaimo Timbermen, a junior women’s (ages 17-21) team.

Nanaimo coach Andy Reynolds was not surprised Northwestern was keen on Lasota, despite her limited field lacrosse experience.
“Her stick skills are out of this world for somebody her age,” he said. “And with all the moves and dodges she makes, I know she’ll do great down there.”

Lasota has only ever seen one NCAA game live. The Wildcats flew her and other incoming rookies to their April 26 game versus the University of Southern California Trojans.

Northwestern won this contest, which was held at Wrigley Field, 12-7.

Lasota is one of 12 new players that will be joining the Wildcats. The team had 35 players on its roster this season.

Lasota is uncertain how much playing time she’ll receive in her freshman season.

“I don’t know what to expect,” she said. “I’m just going to play my game and see what happens.”

Reynolds would not be surprised if Lasota does receive her share of playing time at Northwestern, as early as her freshman season.

Though she’s known for her offensive skills, Reynolds said Lasota also has other qualities that should appeal to the Northwestern staff.

“She’s actually good at both ends of the field,” he said. “And her speed has been unmatched by anybody else in our league this season.”

Lasota has just finished up her high school studies at Carihi Secondary School in Campbell River. Her school does not have a field lacrosse team, so instead she participated in a pair of other sports, soccer and basketball, in her final high school year.

Now that she has a lucrative field lacrosse scholarship, Lasota expects to stop playing box lacrosse.

“I think this season will be my last,” she said.

Chances are this will not be the last time, however, that the lacrosse community hears of Lasota.