This article appears in the January edition of US Lacrosse Magazine, available exclusively to US Lacrosse members. Join or renew today! Thank you for your support.

Jane Earley felt like she was ready for a breakout season in 2020 after building confidence during Middlebury’s run to the NCAA Division III women’s lacrosse championship run in 2019.

As a freshman attacker that year, she tallied a career-high eight points to help the Panthers to their 10th NESCAC championship with a 10-9 win over Tufts, then added 14 goals and three assists over the final four games of the NCAA tournament.

Last year, Earley picked up right where she left off and was excited about sustaining that consistency when the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the season. She finished with 12 goals and five assists through a 3-0 start for Middlebury, and now Earley is anxious for a chance to make up for lost time. She is the US Lacrosse Magazine Preseason Player of the Year.

“The NESCAC championship against Tufts, I exceeded my own expectations and realized I really can contribute here,” said Earley, who scored five goals with three assists, four draw controls and two caused turnovers in that game. “That was a game that gave me a lot of confidence going into the postseason. It was a real turning point for me. That was the point I realized I could be a leader.”

Middlebury coach Kate Livesay, a Panthers alumna who has been on staff for seven years, said Earley is one of the most talented players to come through the program.

“Jane is a truly skilled, truly impactful attacker,” Livesay said. “Her ability to win draws and just convert in high-pressure situations [stand out]. If you look at her impact in our NESCAC finals game of 2019 and then her impact in the 2019 final four, it speaks to her ability to rise to the occasion and get the job done. I’ve never coached someone who thrives off of competition in the same way that Jane does.”

Losing the 2020 season was difficult for everyone, Earley said, especially after such a “picture-perfect year” in 2019, but the expectations are the same as they were a year ago. Middlebury wants to maintain its top position in the rankings and repeat as national champion.

Earley wants to lead the Panthers to that same summit, though it remains to be seen if the NESCAC will allow spring sports in 2021. The conference was at the forefront of cancellations in March.

Earley has played a lot of wall ball and done everything possible to stay in top shape since last year’s shutdown, but the fall was especially challenging while away from campus. Like a lot of NESCAC and Ivy League athletes, Earley elected to take a gap semester to keep her eligibility for 2023. So while her teammates were able to meet and practice with coaches throughout the fall, Earley had to try to replicate those sessions on her own at home back on Cape Cod. With her work ethic, it wasn’t as hard as it might have been for others.

“I’ve just had to hold myself accountable,” Earley said. “I haven’t played with our freshmen at all, so getting used to playing with a new group will be the biggest jump I have to make. But I’m super excited and I think it will be fine. I hear a lot of good things about our recruits.”

Looking back to her own freshman year, Earley said her exploits were a bonus to the team because they weren’t expected. Last year, she relished the pressure. Those are the situations she feels she thrives in, and that’s also probably why she likes being on the draw unit.

Earley came to Middlebury as a midfielder from and quickly learned she was better suited for attack in college.

Despite that change, the Panthers kept Earley on the draw unit, where she’s capable of changing the dynamics of a game from inside or outside the center circle. 

“I don’t think about the ball,” Earley said of her approach in the center circle. “I think about boxing out, and that’s it when the whistle blows. Our draw unit works well together, and the communication with our draw team makes it easier to win those draws. I love those moments because it’s a 50-50 moment and it’s different than other parts of the game. I get so hyped up.”

Earley ranked third on the team with 50 draw controls as a freshman, and she had eight draw controls in three games last year. She wants to improve her dodging and work on feeding cutters to make the Panthers more difficult to defend and add to her already loaded repertoire of skills on offense.

“I was getting really excited in 2020 about working on my feeding, because that wasn’t my role in 2019, looking for those cutters. But in 2020 I was looking for those and it was so much fun,” she said. “It will still feel new to me. I’m just working on keeping my head up, and looking for the cutters will make me a threat in two different ways, which will make me harder to guard. I just want to do whatever I can to help my team because we have a lot of expectations this year.”