MAMMOTH PROGRESS: Kate Becker heads upfield in 2022 during her senior season for the Princeton High girls’ lacrosse team. Becker has continued her lacrosse career at the next level for the Amherst College women’s program and emerged as a key playmaker for the Mammoths this spring. Attacker Becker tallied 18 goals and a team-high 17 assists in her sophomore campaign to help Amherst go 8-8. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

By Bill Alden

After being slowed by injury in her debut campaign for the Amherst College women’s lacrosse team in 2023, Kate Becker got up to speed this spring.

Former Princeton High standout Becker tallied 18 goals and a team-high 17 assists in her sophomore season to help the Mammoths go 8-8.

Becker utilized her versatility to helped trigger the Amherst attack.

“My role definitely evolved,” said Becker. “We had a lot of injuries this year again on offense so I was playing in a lot of different places. I was behind the goal mostly. The personnel on the field was changing so I was trying to manage that and adapting with our play calls and our clock management. That was the thing I was working on and trying to facilitate.”

Although injuries to both legs limited Becker as a freshman, she did make strides tactically in making the transition to the college game.

“There are rules that become engrained in you on how to go about certain plays and certain scenarios which we didn’t have in high school,” said Becker, who tallied one goal with five assists in 10 games as a freshman. “It is having those rules be fundamental so you can move on to the plays, the sets, and the strategy.”

Last summer, Becker focused on getting up to full strength. “I was still rehabbing; my coaches were super understanding,” said Becker. “The plan was that I would do physical therapy for most of the summer and then I would really start running again and getting back into shape.”

Back in shape for fall training, Becker got in synch with her teammates.

“The NESCAC (New England Small College Athletic Conference) is doing a pilot program where you get 10 practices with coaches in the fall,” said Becker. “This was the first year of that and I was cleared for that which was great, just getting back in shape. We had another great freshman class so playing with them was a great experience in the fall.”

This spring, Becker got off to a great start, tallying four goals and one assist in a 20-11 win over Rogers Williams in the second game of the season and then getting five goals and two assists in an 18-9 win over Westfield State in the seventh game.

“Roger Willams was a fun game, I am pretty sure everybody got to play in that so that was good,” said Becker. “I was trying to work on consistency this season. There were definitely games where it was easier to read how the defense was playing.”

Amherst played some of is best games during a hot stretch in early April when it posted four straight wins, topping archival Willams 17-8, edging Connecticut College 12-9, defeating Bates 16-13, and then nipping Babson 15-14.

“That was definitely great, you can play a zone or a man defense and we had supposedly been better at one over the other so in that stretch of games we knew we were going to see both,” said Becker. “All of those teams were really talented. The Williams game was incredible, we put it all together from every part of the field. We were able to beat Conn in the middle of the weekend then we carried momentum into Bates and Babson. That was back-to-back. We went to Bates and won that game. We played Babson the next day, they were a very good team.”

In reflecting on her progress this spring, Becker attributed it to getting a better feel of the game and her teammates.

“I think starting to read the defenses better,” said Becker. “I am always working on the balance between a passer and a scorer. In high school, you could pick what you wanted to do but in college, there are definitely times when I should go to goal more and I don’t. But then also I want to balance because I play behind the goal. I am in a passing role which I really enjoy, being able to set up my teammates for success.”

This summer, Becker is looking to get in some training before heading to Europe for a semester abroad.

“I am doing the workout packet and getting out with the local lacrosse people,” said Becker. “I am going abroad in the fall so I will miss fall ball. The time for me to really focus in will be January.”
With Amherst’s top seven scorers slated to return next season, Becker believes that she will be coming back to something special in January.

“We had a girl in my freshman class who was incredible and was out this season; there was another freshmen who got hurt early in the season who was a starter,” said Becker. “Our team is definitely going to be jelling and capitalizing. We are going to have a lot of talent on the field.”