SACRAMENTO, Calif. – St. Francis senior Hayley Kusserow will continue her lacrosse career at St. Mary’s College next fall, fulfilling her dream of playing Division I lacrosse.

“I have always thought about St. Mary’s,” said Kusserow. “I played a tournament at St. Mary’s a few years ago and I always thought it was a really pretty campus. I was debating between a small or a big school. I realized I am used to a small school (setting) like St. Francis and I really like the environment. St. Mary’s is a small school with good sport teams. I was drawn to it. It is not too far from home but it was far enough I could be on my own.”

The Gaels program is coached my Jessica Mucci and includes former Troubadour Meagan Bennett on its current roster.

“I know a lot of people going there already and they loved it,” said Kusserow, who plays for the 3d lacrosse club based in the Bay area. “I liked the coaches and the other players. I felt like I had a connection there.”

Kusserow has played on the varsity in each of her first three seasons at St. Francis. She led the team with 38 goals and 44 points as a freshman, the most memorable coming in the season finale against Oak Ridge with a double overtime game winner.

“My biggest memory was playing Oak Ridge my freshman year,” recalls Kusserow, who is a three-time Sacramento Valley Lacrosse Conference all-league selection. “We have always had a big rivalry with them. I know a lot of players on the team so I never want to lose to them. It was the last game of the season and it went into double overtime. I scored the winning goal in the last few minutes. It was awesome do that in my freshman year.”

Kusserow, who lives in Fair Oaks, led the team in scoring as a junior with 58 goals and 60 points and was named the team’s Most Valuable Attacker. She scored in 17 of 18 games played and recorded two more goals in 15 games highlighted by a six-goal game against Oak Ridge. She works on her game year round with her club.

“Hayley is an extremely motivated 3d Lacrosse club member,” said Meagan Miller, the Girls manager of 3d lacrosse. “She traveled 90 minutes to the East Bay weekly. She’s small but incredibly strong with the uncanny ability to get underneath her defenders to score. At the same time, she’s developed a real intuition for the game and has embraced her intelligence and boosted her generosity on the field. She’s just always asking the right questions – the ones that show she has a real understanding of the game.”

Kusserow will help lead a St. Francis team in 2015 that returns their top four goal scorers and nine players that scored 10 or more goals last season. She has helped lead the program to back-to-back North Coast Section playoff appearances.

“This year I hope all the seniors are really close,” said Kusserow. “I want to be really intense while having fun with it and enjoy every moment.”

With her college choice behind her, she can concentrate on her final season in the red and gold. But she is excited about what the future holds for her with the Gaels at St. Mary’s.

“It has always been my dream to play Division I lacrosse,” said Kusserow. “The fact that I get to do that is awesome.”

Kusserow will be one of several Troubadour seniors participating in a NLI/College Commitment event at St. Francis on Nov. 12 at 9 a.m.