Ivy League lacrosse is in Samantha Bird's blood.
Penn's senior attack comes from a line of women's lacrosse players. Bird's older sister, Courtney, graduated from Princeton last year, while her younger sister, Georgia, is currently a freshman on Dartmouth's roster.
Although Samantha and Georgia will face each other in an Ivy League matchup Saturday when No. 13 Dartmouth travels to Franklin Field to take on the No. 2 Quakers, Samantha notes that their sibling rivalry is a friendly one.
"We've talked about it a little, but we don't really talk specifics, because it gets a little bit awkward," Bird said. "She is excited to come down here, and I'm just excited to see her."
Bird said that she and her sisters picked up lacrosse sticks when she was either in fourth or fifth grade. It was then that she began playing around in township leagues and with her father. With lacrosse in her genes, it is no wonder that Bird has come into her own during her time playing at Penn.
The Summit, N.J., native has worked her way to the top of the women's lacrosse program in her three and a half years. In her freshman and sophomore years, Bird entered a fair amount of games - 11 and six, respectively - but didn't make her first start until her junior season. Although she only played in 10 of the Quakers' 19 games in 2008, the team named Bird captain for the 2009 season.
"It really said a lot about how much of a leader they see her as, even if she kind of wasn't that on the field," coach Karin Brower said.
According to Brower, Bird has a phenomenal work ethic. Although she did not have a solid starting spot as a junior, Bird still showed consistency in team workouts and in team runs. Bird herself has also seen the positive effects her efforts have had on her teammates.
"I've always been a really hard worker, I think, so [I] just keep them going with that." she said.
Her teammates and coaches have seen her up the ante in practice, which has paid off this season. In a break-out game last Wednesday against Johns Hopkins, Bird created opportunities for herself and managed to tally a career high of three goals and two assists (by comparison, she came into 2009 with six career points).
As a strong 8-meter shooter, Bird has gained the confidence of her coaches as well. Brower told of one instance earlier in the season in which teammate Erin Brennan was injured and unable to take her free position shot. Bird, notorious for the quick release on her shot, was sent onto the field as her replacement and managed to score for the Quakers.
"I think she has really learned when to get a goal and how to finish and see the net," Brower said.
With her new position as a team captain, Bird has also gained a new sense of confidence.
"I was really excited to be named captain, because I hadn't really had that big of a role, as much as I wanted to," the Wharton student said. "It's been awesome."
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