Allegra Alexander ’27 Leads with Joy on the Lacrosse Field

By Christopher Pearman ’27, Big Red Sports Network Reporter

Ask girls’ varsity lacrosse offensive player Allegra Alexander ’27 what it feels like to stay after practice and shoot on her own, and she doesn’t hesitate. “There’s nothing better than hearing the sound of a ball ping the back of the net,” she said. “I can just turn my mind off, let go, and do whatever feels right in the moment. It’s freeing.” Ask her about getting into lacrosse and her face will light up as she tells stories about Dunkin’ munchkin bribes from her mom or seeing a girl and her dad playing catch through the living room window.

Alexander has a verbal commitment to Brown University, and is a very driven person. Beyond her achievements or awards, the way she talks about the game is a defining element for Alexander. She’ll describe playing out on the field and you’ll hear in her voice that there’s nowhere else she’d rather be.

She fell in love with lacrosse immediately, not because it came easy to her, but because of the way it made her feel. The friendships, the team, and the sense of working towards something with other people was something she greatly admired. “The friendships you make through sports–there’s a sisterly bond about it,” she said. “You know each other so well. It’s something really special that I feel like a lot of other things in life just can’t give you.”

Alexander often brings a speaker out to the field to play her favorite songs and shoots until she feels like stopping. Sometimes she’s joined by her teammates or sometimes she’s on her own – either way she loves it.

Her love of the sport didn’t come without struggle. During the COVID pandemic, Alexander stepped away from lacrosse for a bit, yet felt the absence enough that she asked her dad to put her back in the local rec league. She came to Lawrenceville as a Third Former who didn’t know the Big Red team yet and had real moments of self-doubt on the field. Hard games stuck with her longer than they should have. Balancing high level athletics and academics was a challenge. She talked about all of it openly and still does. That’s something Lawrenceville girls’ varsity lacrosse coach Aly Dowey noticed early from her: Alexander never pretends like it’s easy, and never lets anyone think that success just happened to her.

“Sports doesn’t have to be a linear path,” Alexander said. “It doesn’t have to be all sunshine and rainbows. That’s kind of the whole point–you have hard moments, and you learn how to navigate them.”

Now, as someone who younger players look up to, she carries that honestly intentionally. She knows what it’s like to watch an older player and feel like the gap is impossible to close. She doesn’t want that; she wants people to see the work.

Even with everything she’s built – the commitment, the leadership, the hard-won confidence – what Dowey came back to, in every question surrounding Alexander, was joy. “She’s so excited to be excited,” her coach said. “She’s just a joyful person and that’s really infectious.”

Alexander would probably agree. Even on her worst days, she said, the ability to bounce back is what makes the good moments so great. And for her, the good moments-a ball pinging the net, a close game won, a season shared with people she loves-are very, very good.

“Being surrounded by a team, having great wins, learning from losses together,” she beamed, “you don’t really get that anywhere else. It’s really amazing.”

For more information, contact Lisa M. Gillard H'17, director of public relations, at lgillard@lawrenceville.org.