NORFOLK, Va. – When Annalynn Pompetti was a child, her mom suggested that she take some dance classes and perhaps try out to be a cheerleader.
But young Anna was having none of that. She was already in love with playing a sport that required her run hard for hours, carry a stick, wear a mouthguard and, at times engage in physical contact with opponents.
“I was so young when I first picked up a lacrosse stick that I don’t remember it,” she said. “I was maybe two years old. I was playing for a township team when I was five. My mom wanted me to go into dance and cheer, but I absolutely hated it. I was always a competitive little kid.”
Nearly two decades later, her mom, Colleen Pompetti is more than happy with the choice her daughter made.
Anna is now a senior captain for the Old Dominion University lacrosse squad, which opens at home Saturday night at 6 against VCU.
It was lacrosse that led her to ODU, where she has excelled both academically and athletically. A business marketing major with a 3.70 grade point average, Anna has already accepted a job with a Norfolk biomedical firm. She will begin work after she graduates in May.
Anna starts at midfielder for ODU and has scored a goal apiece in ODU’s first two games. Last season, she had two game-winners for the Monarchs.
“We have so much talent in our underclassmen, our sophomores and first years, and Anna has set an example for all of them on how much hard work pays off,” Head Coach Theresa Walton said.
Walton said Anna didn’t see all that much playing time early on, and after being moved around to another position, Anna dug in her heels and said I’m a midfielder.
“And now to be a starting two-way, one of our strongest at that position, is just a great example of a combination of trusting the process and working hard and being resilient while also keeping a great team mentality,” Walton said.
“To have the wherewithal to tell us, her coaching staff, that ‘this is where I want to play.’ I’m just so glad we listened to her and trusted her to go back to that position. She has just taken it by storm. It’s incredible to see just how she impacts both sides of the ball.”
Anna comes from a lacrosse family. Her father, Jamie, was a high school lacrosse player who coached her before she went to high school. Her brother, Trey, also played lacrosse while her sister, Lylah, plays at Salisbury in Maryland.
Little wonder that she never picked up pom poms.
She was raised in Media, Pennsylvania, a Philadelphia suburb that has some of the nation’s finest high school lacrosse programs. She was a four-year starter and a two-time team captain at Penncrest High School and as a senior, led Delaware County with 45 assists and ranked third with 85 points.
Anna had other offers while she was being recruited to ODU by then coach Heather Holt. But once she got on campus, she knew where she was going.
“The feel of the school was really attractive to me,” she said. “There were a lot of girls from my area that had played here. So, I kind of knew them, talked to them, and once I got on campus, I knew this was the place where I was supposed to be.”
Holt retired and was replaced by Walton before Anna arrived on campus. Anna says she’s loved playing for the current coaching staff, including assistant coaches Meg Clements and Hailey Dobbins.
“The culture here is so much better now than it was when I got here,” she said. “We’ve gotten better every year. I’ve never been on a team where we have each other's backs as much as we do now, and that's on the field and off the field.”
She said Walton and her staff have helped her mature.
“I’m going to be honest, from freshman year to now, I am a completely different player and person,” she said. “This coaching staff took a chance to me when I was a freshman when I wasn’t always a rules follower. I wasn’t always doing things I was supposed to do. But these coaches, they stayed with me, they pushed me through all of those hard times. They kept telling me about my mistakes. It made me the player that I am. (Walton) is one of the most passionate coaches I know. She wants nothing but the best for every single one of us and for the team.”
When she isn’t playing, practicing, or studying, Anna gets in her car and heads for the Virginia Beach Oceanfront to surf. After nearly four years in Hampton Roads, she says she can’t imagine living anywhere else.
“I love the beach,” she said. “I love everything about this area. It’s always fun going back to Philadelphia. But this is my home, too. I think this is the place where I’m just meant to be.”
Minium is ODU's Senior Executive Writer for Athletics. Contact him at hminium@odu.edu or follow him on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram
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