With a top-ten preseason ranking, expectations are high for Denver women’s lacrosse. For the program to reach the national championship heights they so desire, superstar senior defender Sam Thacker (Lutherville, Md.) will have to play a leading role. 

Last season was wildly successful for Thacker, winning Big East Defender of the Year and leading the nation in forced turnovers with 64. Despite all the individual accolades, when asked about what her individual and team goals were for the season, Thacker immediately responded, “to win a national championship.”

Thacker’s DU journey started when she was only 15 years old, which was when she committed to the program. She commented that the vibe on campus and the team are what brought her here. 

“Even as a recruit you feel like you are part of the family,” she said. 

Thacker has been playing lacrosse all her life, saying she has had a stick in her hands since before she was in kindergarten. She came from a lacrosse family from the outskirts of Baltimore, one of the most lacrosse-mad regions in the country. However, she played a number of sports growing up, not just lacrosse. 

She specifically points to basketball as something that helped her become a better defender, saying that it helped her mindset, but her true love was always lacrosse, playing with her friends from a young age and steadily climbing the lacrosse pyramid.

Now as one of the team leaders, Thacker tries to instill that familial atmosphere that brought her to Denver in the first place. Off the field, she is there for her teammates, especially the underclassmen. A big theme for her is to push everyone to be their best selves both on and off the field. 

In lacrosse, defenders are often unappreciated, playing a less glamorous role on the pitch compared to their attacking counterparts. Interestingly, defense is often overlooked not only by the spectators but also by the teams themselves. 

“A lot of teams play defense like it is on the back burner, but with us, we put both attack and defense at the forefront,” she explained.  

As a senior captain and preseason first-team All-American, Thacker is the one that sets the tone and is the on-pitch leader that makes sure defense is as much of a priority as scoring goals. 

Thacker’s DU career path has been an unconventional one to say the least, having been interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic eight games through her freshman season. Her sophomore season was also impacted by COVID-19, with the team being largely isolated that fall. 

“We weren’t able to do much as a team which was really strange for us,” she said. 

However, this time gave Thacker a deep-rooted appreciation of both playing the game and being able to form relationships with teammates.

If Denver is to climb the mountain top of women’s lacrosse, it will be on the back of Sam Thacker, both as the superstar defender and inspirational leader.