Women's Lacrosse | 11/13/2017 2:26:00 PM

Editor's Note: GoMason.com will feature several lacrosse alumnae periodically leading up to the beginning of lacrosse season in February. The first alumna is 2000 Mason grad Liz Case (Paoli), a former two-time All-Colonial Athletic Association selection. She is currently the head girls lacrosse coach at Robinson High School, the three-time defending 6A lacrosse state champion.
 
Liz Case (Paoli) never planned on attending George Mason.

She planned to play Division I lacrosse closer to her hometown of Suffern, N.Y. During her junior year of high school, though, a 45-pound weight was dropped on her hand and nearly severed her thumb.

The injury forced Case to play with a cast and required five surgeries. The fifth and final surgery meant Case would have to miss fall ball during her first semester of college. This led to her original scholarship offer being rescinded.

Just months away from her the beginning of her freshman year, Case didn't know where she was going to play college lacrosse. But she was determined to still make it happen. She remembered running into then-Mason coach Jenny Graap at a national high school tournament that summer. Graap had been interested in the possibility of Case playing for the Patriots.

So Case called Graap, asked if the offer was still on the table, came down to Fairfax for a visit in August and then just two weeks later signed a national letter of intent and enrolled at Mason. Six years later, she graduated as (at the time) the program's all-time leading scorer with 110 goals.

"It was awesome," Case said of her time at Mason.

Case broke through as a freshman in the spring of 1995, setting four school records, including most goals and points in a season, and earning All-CAA Second Team honors. But then she left school for the next two years as she was pregnant with her son, Quentin.

After having Quentin, Case got back into lacrosse shape and made a women's national team. Graap was on hand at a tournament and told Case her scholarship was still waiting for her if she ever wanted to come back to Mason.

"I called her up immediately and was like 'I would love to come back to school,'" Case said. "I need to get my degree and I need to do something with my life. I have a 2-year-old. So I got myself back into Mason."



Also motivating Case to come back was the memory of a fallen teammate. Aimee Willard, who was also Case's roommate, was murdered in June 1996. Willard was a two-sport athlete at Mason in lacrosse and soccer. The Aimee Willard Endowed Scholarship was set up that year and the athletic department holds the annual Aimee Willard Memorial 5K Run/Walk every spring.

"I went back to play in her name," Case said. "I need to go back and finish because she couldn't finish. When I went back to play, I ended up senior year beating her scoring record. To me it was so meaningful because of the struggle to get there but also it was hers."

Case returned with a fury in 1998, earning All-CAA First Team honors, setting the school record for most draw controls in a game and helping the Patriots to their first winning season in program history.

Then adversity struck again the next year.

Case and teammate Laura Kenney were hit by a car while walking across the street in Durham, N.C., while team was down there for a game. Kenney suffered head trauma and was in a coma for several months (she has since recovered).

The hood and front end of the car hit Case's right knee, destroying three of the four ligaments in her knee. She had a cadaver stapled across her leg that keeps her kneecap in place. She underwent two surgeries and extensive rehab and physical therapy with George Mason physician Frank Pettrone (for which the Center of Sports Performance in Mason's Field House is named after). Pettrone's help and Case's motivation to play her final collegiate season got her back on the field in 2000.

"That was the determination of that it is not going to define me," she said. "Here I am a single mom and I don't have a leg. I don't have a kneecap. I can't run. I can't do anything. That was my determination to get back on the lacrosse field."



Case returned in 2000, with toddler Quentin (now a 21-year-old senior at VCU) a staple around the team and at games, to finish out her career. She surpassed Willard in career goals and also left as the team's all-time points leader (127) and draw controls leader (98).

She also received the CAA's John H. Randolph Inspiration Award for her recovery and return from the car accident. She graduated from Mason that spring with her degree in Health, Fitness, Recreation and Resource Management. 

She stayed in the Northern Virginia area after graduation and quickly jumped into coaching. She started as an assistant coach at Woodson High School in Fairfax, helping the Cavaliers win a state championship. She then served as an assistant at Centreville High School before heading to Trinity Christian (just down the street from Mason) and starting its girls lacrosse program.

Five years ago she took over at Robinson High School, where she has guided the Rams to three state championships (2015-17) and was named the All-Met Coach of the Year by the Washington Post in 2015. She also coaches club and youth lacrosse in the area and currently has her own youth club team, Rattlers GLAX.

"I always loved lacrosse and I realized the passion was also in coaching," Case said. "I didn't really know that until I got into coaching, really. It was seeing the success and seeing the players improve. And helping them get off into college. Helping players reach their goals was really satisfying for me. I really enjoy coaching. Because I was able to help them reach their goals. I've had girls going off to Loyola, JMU, UC Davis that can play at the Division I level. Even girls who have played Division III and are very successful as well… My first year coaching at Robinson we were 3-11. Every year we improved. It was just amazing to see the growth in lacrosse."

Case also serves as an instructional assistant in a special needs classroom and physical education setting at Robinson. She plans to finish her master's degree in special education in Mason's Cohort Special Education Program.

"I have a niece who has special needs. Her disability has impacted me, having a relationship with my niece," she said. "But also being in the school and being with students with special needs, it is just so much more rewarding for me. For me, personally, I wasn't necessarily the rock star of academics. I was more of the athlete. I struggled to try to get through school. It just made more sense for me to work in this program."

Case maintains a strong connection to Mason. Several of her former players at Robinson have ended up at Mason – transfer Sarena Pillow will be on the 2018 team – and she has built a good relationship with the current coaching staff.

Even though her time at Mason unfolded very differently than she imagined, she talks fondly about the people she met and the opportunities she was given. She was coached by Graap and Amy Bokker, who is now at Stanford, and was part of the first winning team at Mason.

She is still appreciative of everything Mason provided her during her undergraduate years and she looks forward to attending Mason again for her master's degree in special education this upcoming spring semester.

"For me, Mason gave me stability," she said. "The athletic department was extremely supportive and helped find me more money so my son could attend GMU's childcare center on campus."