Molly Laliberty looks back at what it took for the Tufts women’s lacrosse team to get through 2020 fall practices during the depth of the pandemic and believes the team bonding the Jumbos relied on then played a key role in their success on the field last spring.

A confidence-building win over Division I foe Dartmouth, the program’s first NESCAC championship and a debut NCAA Division III championship game appearance all would have been more difficult to achieve without a standout goalkeeper like Laliberty.

Laliberty was the backbone of a team that went 10-1, its only loss coming in the NCAA final against Salisbury, a 14-13 setback in Salem, Virginia. She was the NESCAC Player of the Year, a first-team All-American, stopped 112 of the 188 shots she faced for a .594 save percentage that ranked sixth nationally and allowed just 7.24 goals per game against a challenging schedule. Now she’s the USA Lacrosse Magazine Division III Preseason Player of the Year.

“It’s hard to be the best without a great goalkeeper,” Tufts coach Courtney Shute said. “That position is incredibly important and something we’ve worked really hard at in the recruiting process to get great goalies. Molly plays a massive part of making us go defensively but also creating our offense.”

Laliberty, a 5-foot-4 senior from Newburyport, Massachusetts, split games with Audrey Evers during her freshman year and set herself up for a big sophomore season before the pandemic cut it short two games in.

That made last fall a bit more mundane. The Jumbos worked through restrictive practices with no indication the NESCAC would have a 2021 season. “No light at the end of the tunnel,” Laliberty said. They were limited to socially distanced drills that emphasized stick skills, footwork and conditioning.

“I’m very passionate about lacrosse and kind of obsessed with it, so even when we shut down for the fall — I treat a captains’ practice like the national championship — my intensity never wavered,” Laliberty said. “That got me through it, loving lacrosse and playing at the level I wanted to play. It also invigorated me. If I want to be the best goalie or lacrosse player I can be, I should take advantage of the now.”

Laliberty shined on the biggest stages. She made 14 saves on 19 shots (73.7 percent) in an 11-5 victory at Dartmouth, she was 13-for-16 (81.3 percent) in a 14-3 win over Wesleyan in the NESCAC championship game, and she made 12 saves in Tufts’ NCAA quarterfinal victory over TCNJ, including three in a four-minute stretch late as the Jumbos nursed an 11-10 lead.

“She has a knack for making saves that you just shouldn’t be able to make," Shute said. "That’s a natural skill set but also a talent she’s worked incredibly hard on. I can’t imagine a player in the country that works harder. She’s constantly on the field getting extra reps and extra shots. That’s the best way to become the best goalkeeper in the country.”

Laliberty has her sights set on helping Tufts back to the national championship game and doing whatever she can to lead the Jumbos to a title.

“Last year I was lucky enough to get a good amount of recognition, and not that I don’t want that, but it allows me to focus on team goals,” Laliberty said. “If we could win a national championship and I get no accolades, I would be happy.”