A Quick Study: 5 Years In, Olivia Abbott Already a 5-Star Recruit

This article appears in the March edition of USA Lacrosse Magazine. Join our momentum.

Olivia Abbott is a five-star recruit.

Five years ago, the Sacred Heart Prep (Calif.) junior didn’t even know what lacrosse was.

Then a gold medal-winning goalie gave her an assist.

“Quite frankly, she saw more potential in me than I could see in myself,” Abbott said.

Liz Hogan, the 2010 IWLCA Goalkeeper of the Year at Syracuse and 2022 world champion as the starting goalie on the U.S. Women’s National Team, was Abbott’s homeroom teacher in sixth grade at SHP. Abbott was in the Olympic Development Program in the soccer-rich state but facing a long-term injury that threatened her future in that sport. Hogan suggested she branch out athletically.

Lacrosse was a no-brainer.

“She was good at every sport that she did,” Hogan said. “As someone who used to be a college coach and evaluates athletes all the time, she was one of those where you're just like, ‘OK, she's got something special.’”

Hogan timed middle school track meets when Abbott flashed by in sprints. She qualified for the Junior Olympics in the 100 and 200 meters. And at 5-foot-10, she also has height. But Abbott was so unfamiliar with lacrosse that she first explored volleyball, rowing and basketball.

Finally, in seventh grade Abbott got a lacrosse stick and started practicing during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I bought a boys’ stick because I didn't know the difference,” she quipped.

It’s been a sprint from there, a rapid rise for Abbott to one of the nation’s best lacrosse players in her recruiting class. Early on, she had the guidance of Karen Healy-Silcott, now the Howard head coach. Hogan could hardly believe Abbott’s stickwork in a video Healy-Silcott shared after less than a year.

“She loves lacrosse so much that she'll put so much extra time into it,” Hogan said. “She's not doing it to be recruited or whatever. She just loves lacrosse. She loves getting out there and shooting and improving upon herself.”

Abbott’s speed made transition her favorite part of the game. A midfielder from the start, she knew her stickwork lagged others. The isolation of the pandemic gave her plenty of time for wall ball and she made the most of it.

“I started to pick up my stick every day because I wanted to make sure that I didn't just catch up to other people,” Abbott said. “I wanted to surpass them.”