W
ithin hours of a flight to Baltimore, Maryland, where she was trying to stamp her spot on Team USA’s Under-20 team, pain engulfed Alexa Vogelman. In the final 10 minutes of SU’s practice on Oct. 13, 2023, Vogelman competed in a two-player drill. She took a wrong step while dodging a teammate and landed awkwardly on her right leg.
The five-star freshman midfielder knew her chances of competing with Team USA and at Syracuse in the spring were gone. Soon after, it was revealed she tore her ACL.
After a year-long rehab, Vogelman is set to play a major role for Syracuse as it tries to win its first National Championship. Vogelman brings replenished talent to the Orange, as she was rated Inside Lacrosse’s No. 5 player in the 2023 class. Following the departures of top scorers Emma Tyrrell and Natalie Smith, she’ll be thrust into a pivotal role in SU’s midfield alongside Emma Muchnick.
“It’s been a long three years since I’ve been committed to finally being able to practice and to be in these moments,” Vogelman said. “So there’s definitely a ton of eagerness, a lot of excitement, as the season’s about to start.”
Vogelman excelled on both sides of the ball for her club team, NXT Black, and Owen J. Roberts High School (Pennsylvania). The Chester Springs, Pennsylvania, native totaled 268 goals, 140 assists and 275 ground balls in three seasons with OJR, becoming a three-time USA Lacrosse All-American.
Alexa Vogelman starred in her home state of Pennsylvania playing for NXT Black prior to her arrival at Syracuse. Courtesy of Candace Bossell
Vogelman felt defeated after her injury. Sensing the emotions, her best friend and current Florida midfielder Gabbi Koury flew to Pennsylvania to surprise her after her surgery.
Koury coordinated with Vogelman’s father, Steve, to let her in their house. With Koury in the kitchen, Vogelman walked in and was confused. She questioned how Koury got there, but the surprise lifted her spirits.
“As soon as I heard about the injury, I flew home because I knew she was struggling a little bit,” Koury said. “ She seemed really happy, and I was just glad I could be there for her during that hard time.”
By mid-December, Vogelman began walking without a brace. In March, she was cleared to jog and make small lateral movements. Still, Vogelman was hampered by patellar tendinitis in her knee, preventing her from running or jumping until the summer. Consequently, her rehab was extended by three months.
Once Vogelman cleared that hurdle, she worked on changing directions with a physical trainer in Maryland. It was initially a mental challenge since her injury occurred while dodging, though she persevered and was cleared in October.
After her rehab, Vogelman looked at her injury differently. She felt grateful she could walk and learned to enjoy every moment.
“As crazy as it sounds, I think tearing my ACL was one of the greatest things that could have happened to me,” Vogelman said. “It was a very humbling moment, and it taught me a lot of life lessons.”
Since beginning to play lacrosse in second grade, Vogelman rarely endured hardships. In fifth grade, Vogelman and her friends joined NXT Black. She paired with Koury and last year’s ACC Freshman of the Year, Virginia’s Kate Galica, to form one of the best midfield lines in the country.
“I can probably count on one hand how many games we lost,” OJR and NXT teammate Avery Wentzel said.
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This helped Vogelman develop her skills as a distributor. She embraced a supporting role alongside 14 future D-I athletes, often working behind the goal to distribute the ball and set up teammates for scoring opportunities.
“She always had the ability to be a humongous scorer, but she’s so unselfish that she would do whatever the team needed,” NXT Executive Vice President Candace Bossell said.
Vogelman followed eight of her NXT teammates and head coach David Schlesinger to OJR for high school. After her freshman season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Vogelman’s confidence ballooned as a sophomore. She started taking more shots and “set the world on fire,” Bossell said.
She also improved her shot placement. Schlesinger said many young players attempt “SportsCenter shots.” Schlesinger stressed to Vogelman that shooting in the right place was more important than how the shot looked.
“Once Alexa realized that it was just as much fun to make a goalie look silly through multiple fakes and getting her completely out of position (as) powering a shot to a high corner, that was a huge development in her game,” Schlesinger said.
Vogelman recorded 72 goals and 28 assists in the campaign. When her recruiting window opened on Sept. 1, 2021, she was overwhelmed with calls.
The midfielder narrowed her choices to SU, Maryland, Florida, Virginia and Michigan. Though, after visiting Syracuse in mid-September, she realized its coaches shared her winning mindset. She committed to the Orange a few days later.
In her junior year, Vogelman faced more pressure. But it rarely worked. Vogelman’s speed helped her blow by defenders, Koury said. Or, when she was double-teamed, someone was usually unguarded in front of the goal.
Despite Vogelman’s individual accomplishments, the Wildcats struggled to win when it mattered. As a sophomore, after an undefeated regular season, they were demolished 13-4 by Radnor High School in the District I Quarterfinal. The next year, OJR lost the district and state quarterfinals, capped by a triple-overtime defeat to Garnet Valley High School.
“It’s a pretty brutal blow. You work so hard in the season to get that state championship,” Vogelman said. “I think losing in those moments is honestly more motivating than anything.”
In Vogelman’s senior year, with nine D-I commits, the stars aligned. The midfielder had her best year, ranking 11th nationally with 181 points and 20th with 117 goals. OJR finished 27-1 and made the PIAA state championship.
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On June 17, 2023, the Wildcats traveled to Penn State’s Panzer Stadium to face Penncrest High School, looking to avenge their previous losses. Though the Wildcats led at halftime, Vogelman delivered a powerful halftime speech after Penncrest dominated at the end of the first half. She told the team to focus on the little things and keep winning small battles, echoing Schlesinger’s sentiments.
And it worked. Vogelman dominated the draw controls in the second half while totaling nine points. OJR pulled away to win 17-9, giving Vogelman a sense of relief.
“Getting close was becoming frustrating to the team, especially to the leaders like Alexa,” Schlesinger said. “So I think when we won, it was just certainly joy and some fashion of relief that we got over the hump.”
With her high school career over, Vogelman began preparing for Syracuse. She attended the first stage of the U20 tryouts and was a “slam dunk” for the 40-player training team, per Schlesinger, who was an evaluator.
Then, on July 29, 2023, she competed in the New Balance All-America game at Johns Hopkins’ Homewood Field. Despite playing just two halves due to cramps, Vogelman scored four goals, capturing the MVP and leading her squad to a 14-10 victory. Though, afterward, when Bossell and Vogelman met up, the honor wasn’t at the top of her mind. Instead, her first words to her coach were, “Now I want to win a championship.”
After missing that chance last year with Syracuse, a national title is well within reach for Vogelman in 2025.
“I’m just very grateful to be healthy and to be able to play with my teammates and to finally get that opportunity to learn from my coaches,” Vogelman said.
Photograph Courtesy of SU Athletics
Published on January 29, 2025 at 11:29 pm
Contact Noah: njnussba@syr.edu | @ Noahnuss99
