Women's Lacrosse | 5/18/2018 1:17:00 PM

FAIRFAX, Va. – As a collegiate coach the last 10 years, Jessy Morgan has watched hundreds of student-athletes come through her programs and leave grand impressions.  

George Mason goalkeeper Mackenzie Duffy sticks out. And it has nothing to do with her performance on the field.

"She is the most outgoing human I have ever met," said Morgan, who just completed her fourth year as Mason's head coach. "She is a ray of sunshine every day. She is a leader on the team. She is a special person who I'm glad we got an opportunity to add to our roster."

Over the last three years, Duffy lit up the sidelines for the Patriots with her trademark smile and infectious cherry personality.

On Saturday, the 21-year-old from Cranston, R.I., will graduate with her degree in marketing from the George Mason School of Business. She plans to continue to attack life with the same high energy that fired up the Patriots since she transferred from Robert Morris in 2015.

"I want to put my positive footprint on the world," she said.

Her mother would be proud. That's because Nancy Duffy also spread positivity to everyone she met.

"My mom was the happiest, most outgoing person in the world," Mackenzie said. "I remember her always talking on the phone with her clients and her customers and she would be the loudest person on the phone. I would be up in my room, door closed and I could hear her talking on the phone, every single word that came out of her mouth.

"She was just really that big, outgoing person with that big personality who also was positive. She was so positive her whole life and that really transformed to how she took getting cancer."

During Mackenzie's senior year of high school at La Salle Academy in Providence, R.I., Nancy Duffy was diagnosed with inflammatory breast cancer. According to the National Cancer Institute, the inflammatory breast cancer is rare, accounting for just one to five percent of all cancers.

The aggressive disease blocks lymph vessels and can spread and progress quickly.

"Just being inflammatory breast cancer it means that it is eventually going to metastasize to your brain or your lungs," Mackenzie said. "It is terminal. That is hard news to get."

By the following year, during Mackenzie's freshman year at Robert Morris, Nancy had been diagnosed with brain cancer. She regularly made trips to the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston for tests and treatment.

"She was able to fight for a good year and a half, which is a really long time," Mackenzie said. "She was a fighter no doubt."

In the early spring of 2016, Nancy's cancer had worsened and began to receive hospice treatments. At the time, Mackenzie was out in the Pacific Northwest with the Patriots, who were playing two games against Oregon and Fresno State in Eugene, Ore.

On March 9, Mackenzie made nine saves against Oregon in her second career start for Mason. Just hours later, she woke up at 3 a.m. as then-assistant coach Mary Cuddihy and then-volunteer assistant coach Rachel Obregon drove her to Portland to fly cross country to Providence.

After traveling more than 3,000 miles and across three time zones, Mackenzie Duffy walked into her house at Cranston, R.I., 12 hours later, and surprised her mom.

"She didn't know I was coming home, which was really great to see the look on her face when I surprised her," Mackenzie said. "It was awesome. It was such a good feeling. She was a really great mom. Seeing her face light up it is something you will never forget. It is really good to have those memories and be a part of a program where they are like, 'Look, I know you need to deal with your family stuff at home. Go home, deal with it. We'll figure everything out.' That is the kind of program you need to be with if you are going through something like that."

Three weeks later, on March 27, 2016, Nancy Duffy died at the age of 54. She was surrounded by her husband, Ken, their children, Ryan, Tyler and Mackenzie, and daughter-in-law, Pam.   

"It is tough," Mackenzie said. "But it is an experience you learn from. It is stuff you learn from. You really learn to not take anything for granted. It is tough. You want to be able to take what you learned and turn it into a positive thing and be able to influence the people around you, to really be positive to. It sucks being 19 and your mom passing away. But you really learn a lot more from it and I just think it has made me a better person."

Morgan marvels at the fortitude of her gregarious goalie to return to school after losing her mother.

"She is a really tough kid," Morgan said. "I think she went through something that I don't think a lot of people could have gone through and she stayed. She pushed through it. I give her so much credit. She keeps a really great perspective on things and I'm sure she uses it to fuel her in a real positive way."

The entire Duffy family has helped Nancy Duffy's legacy live on in hopes of "continuing her fight."

Three years ago, nine months before Nancy passed away, the Duffy family created the Nancy Strong Memorial Golf Tournament.

The proceeds go toward the Jimmy Fund, which supports the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute by raising funds for adult and pediatric cancer care and research around the world. The tournament is hosted every June at the Cranston Country Club, with a dinner to follow.

The family also reaches out to local businesses and restaurants to donate products or memorabilia, signed jerseys (Ken Duffy is a family friend with the Gronkowskis and Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski), toward gift bags for participants of the golf tournament. The physician who treated Nancy Duffy – Dr. Beth Overmoyer – also has attended the tournament every year and to speak at the dinner about the research at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

The first tournament sold out in a week and the family has raised nearly $100,000 over the last three years. Due to the popularity of the tournament, they have added another tee time to accommodate more golfers.

"We're trying to help others that are in the same situation," Mackenzie said. "Nowadays, cancer is so common unfortunately. Someone is definitely affected by it. That is why our family, we want to continue to be able to fight. And know that there is always hope. You could be going through the worst situation in the world but if you have hope you'll make it further than you think.

"My mom was so excited about it. She was so happy to be able to have all these people come and support her and be there for the greater cause. It was one of the highlights of her life."

And Nancy Duffy continues to leave an impact on her only daughter.

Tattooed on Mackenzie's shoulder are the words, "There is always hope." She lives her life with that mantra in mind.

"I really look for the more positive outlook even if something is negative," she said. "I just think I really was able to take these things that happened to me and learn from them and have a whole different outlook on life."