Middlebury coach Kate Livesay remembered seeing Hollis Perticone play for the first time — at a non-scholastic tournament at some point prior to Perticone’s senior year at Darien (Conn.) High School.

“What a natural lacrosse player,” Livesay said. “Fluid. Plays with a lot of instinct. Impressive.”

There was just one problem.

“Shoot, she’s going to Middlebury.”

Indeed, Perticone would be off to Vermont to play for National Lacrosse Hall of Fame coach Missy Foote, and to continue her field hockey career, as well. Livesay then was the coach at NESCAC rival Trinity, having quickly rebuilt that program into a perennial national power.

But when the Panther coaching legend announced that the 2015 season would the final of her 35 years there, Livesay took advantage of an opportunity to join Foote’s staff as an assistant coach. She starred as a field hockey and lacrosse player at Middlebury, helping the Panthers win NCAA lacrosse championships in 2001 and 2002.

Problem solved, as Livesay returned home the same year Perticone moved in as a freshman. One year later, Livesay was elevated to head coach. Through it all, Livesay said she’s “spent the last four years trying to convince Hollis of how good she is.”

That’s mainly because the understated Perticone has put her team first while letting her play speak for her. She has started 57 of 58 career games, helping the Panthers win the 2016 national championship. Last season, she led Middlebury to a third straight quarterfinal berth, racking up a stat line reflective of her natural ability and multi-sport background: a team-high 78 draw controls, 33 goals, 29 ground balls, 20 caused turnovers and 11 assists.

The IWLCA named her its midfielder of the year and a first-team All-American, and the NESCAC honored her as its player of the year. Perticone enters her senior season as the Brine/US Lacrosse Magazine Division III Women’s Preseason Player of the Year, edging worthy finalists Nicole Clauter (York), Paige Moriarity (Franklin & Marshall), and Elizabeth Morrison (The College of New Jersey).

“The team that wins is the team that works together,” Perticone, who became aware of some of last year’s honors only when teammates congratulated her upon entering a dining hall, said. “The times I’ve failed have been the times when I thought I’m going to do everything.”

“Hollis is a selfless and caring teammate with a get-it-done mentality,” junior midfielder and fellow Connecticut native Sara DiCenso said. “She is the first person to give you a compliment or turn her successes into those of her teammates.”

As a junior at Glastonbury High School, DiCenso had been prepped for Perticone by her coach prior to the 2014 Class L final. The scouting report included a note that Perticone would head to Middlebury, an interest for DiCenso, that fall. Standing at midfielder preparing to draw against each other during an officials’ conversation about a goal late in Darien’s 13-11 win, DiCenso took a chance.

“I was nervous, but I said, ‘Hi, Hollis. This might be weird, but my coach told me you are committed to Middlebury and I really want to go there,’” DiCenso said. “She was ecstatic to hear that. She told me I could come up to visit her in the fall of my senior year.”

DiCenso lost the ensuing draw — she still counts winning draw controls solo or via ground ball as Perticone’s best skill — but gained a friend.

Foote, like Livesay, immediately liked what she saw in Perticone at Darien, whose coach, Lisa Lindley, is an acquaintance of Foote’s.

“Smooth and unflappable,” Foote said. “But I wasn’t sure she’d be able to be a midfielder in college. When you’re recruiting midfielders, in the back of your mind you’re thinking she could be a great attacker if she doesn’t make it. I really liked her soft hands, and she could pass and catch beautifully. She wasn’t super fast, but she could go and go and go.

“But she became such a good defender — sneaky, not dangerous, so she didn’t get a lot of fouls. I had to have her at the offensive end, though. And then she’s really good at draws, so boom, there’s your midfielder.”

Perticone enjoyed her two-sport career in high school and became intrigued by the prospects of life in Division III.

“The recruiting process was a bit overwhelming,” she said. “I wasn’t ready to narrow down playing lacrosse or field hockey in college. I like the balance of Division III: I can be a successful athlete, I can take care of my academics, have social life, and get involved on campus in other activities.”

Though Perticone played only one season of field hockey at Middlebury, she gleamed many of the benefits of multi-sport participation through high school.

“Tracking the ball critical is critical in both sports, and she has the ability to follow the ball and get to it first,” Livesay said. “She has the soft hands from field hockey and can deliver finesse passes. You don’t don’t get that combo a lot — a player with soft hands that also can generate power on her shot. She can check with quick hands, too.”

Foote said it can hard for freshmen to play midfield at a NESCAC school, but Perticone did that and more. And while she made plenty of contributions as a freshman and sophomore, she learned from prior All-American midfielders Laurel Pascal and Chrissy Ritter.

Quickly may best describe how she ascended to the national conversation last year, particularly in pressure spots.

First came a four-draw control, three-goal game at Bowdoin that included the game-tying marker with just two seconds left in regulation. Another hat trick followed at Franklin & Marshall, then a game-winner in double overtime at Trinity.

“I remember [F&M coach] Mike Faith after the game saying something to me like, ‘Who was that kid? We didn’t know about her,’” Livesay said. “We did. It was fun to see her tap into her potential. Now it’s just a matter of doing that the whole game.”

This season, the whole game may mean something different, as rule changes like a 90-second shot clock, free movement, and limits on players within restraining lines during a draw control figure to affect every squad. Perticone has the athleticism to adjust nicely, particularly to seize more draw controls from her preferred position on the circle. What won’t change, now at least, is a more consistent level of attention opponents give to her.

“When I feel like I’m under pressure, I try to focus on something simple — just run as fast as I can to the ball on a draw control,” Perticone said. “It’s important to focus on one task at a time, not on having to score a goal or something major.”

With so little lost to graduation from last year’s team, however, Perticone and No. 2 Middlebury just might have their eyes on accomplishing something major this season.