WOODBURY — When 5-year-old Zoe Inglis saw her brother in a lacrosse helmet, she knew that she wanted to follow in his footsteps.

“I decided to be a goalie in lacrosse because it was the only position for girls lacrosse with a helmet,” says Inglis. “I wanted to be just like my brother and dad.”

Moments like these were common for Inglis as a child. Lacrosse has been her life for the past 12 years and will be for many more to come.

Inglis signed this fall to play Division I lacrosse for Merrimack College.

“It was my dream ever since I watched my first collegiate lacrosse game,” says Inglis. “I also felt like I could not live without lacrosse in my future because it provides structure in my schedule.”

For her last year at Nonnewaug, Inglis had a lot on her plate, but finding a balance was no problem for the superstar senior.

“Zoe’s a great student to have in the class. She was my nemesis last year,” jokes Sturges. “Now that I don’t have her it’s a tough shoe to fit. Zoe knows what matters and gives her time and energy in ways I don’t see many other students do, which is very impressive.”

Kyle Brennan, who teaches Inglis in his Sports and society class, enjoys having her in class.

“Zoe is always engaged in class, and she is thoughtful with what she says,” says Brennan. “She works well with a team, so I can just imagine how good she is as a teammate.”

Kaitlyn Boyce, a junior teammate of Inglis for parts of the last six years, confirms Brennan’s assumption of Inglis.

“Her willingness to help others– even when we play harder teams, she points out things we can do differently that can help us,” says Boyce. “Zoe is such a good teammate because she wants us to win but she also understands the struggles of being in school.”

Last year, Nonnewaug had a girls club lacrosse team for the first time, but Inglis didn’t play. This year as an interscholastic co-op with Litchfield, the team will hopefully benefit from the young goalie as she’ll play here instead of her former Litchfield Hills Lacrosse squad.

“This year, Litchfield Hills Lacrosse is being removed, so my only choice is to play Nonnewaug lacrosse,” Inglis said.