After the newly married couple walks under an arch of extended swords in front of the Naval Academy Cathedral on June 17, they will get into a limousine, go to the reception site and come out to walk underneath a similar formation.
But in the second walk, there will be something slightly different for Terrapin women’s lacrosse attacker Brooke Richards and her new husband.
Instead of again walking underneath the swords of men in uniform, they will walk under an arch made from other Terp players extending lacrosse sticks.
The more serious sword tradition will be for the groom, Paul Magnuson, a midshipman who will be commissioned at the end of May. The lighter idea of the lacrosse sticks will be for the bride, Richards, graduating co-captain for the Terps.
For Richards, the wedding will represent a theme of adapting and adjusting to new phases of life – the same theme that defined her last season on the field as a Terp.
In 2005, Richards started every game, coming into this season as a starter in the opening six games.
But on the road against Brown March 11, coach Cindy Timchal started a younger player instead of Richards, whose role became limited on the field. She did not start again until the last game of the regular season against Princeton.
“It was pretty stressful when it was going on, but I have learned how to manage it,” Richards said. “I am a better person and I have built a lot of character through this.”
A season ago, Richards had one of the highlights of her career when she scored the game-winning goal in overtime against Princeton to lock a spot for the Terps in the NCAA tournament.
She said the moment was one of her favorites in her athletic career, which also include when her high school team won a national championship in the same year she and Magnuson started dating.
So naturally, Richards was heartbroken when she found out she would not play as much. When Timchal made the decision to sit Richards, the coach said it was just a change to help spark the team, which was only .500 at the time.
Magnuson said Richards talked to him about it often but always kept a good attitude to try to earn her starting spot back.
“I didn’t want to let that hold me back,” Richards said.
From that point, Richards has had to learn to play a lesser role on the field, scoring only 16 goals this season. But it has not been the scoreboard where she has contributed most for the Terps.
“I always tell her this is a character-building season,” her father, A. J. Richards, said. “For the Terps she is a mother, cheerleader and player-coach.”
After the selection show disappointed the Terps with a poor seed in the NCAA tournament, Richards was one of the first to speak up and take a positive angle on the draw.
“I always listen to her,” junior attacker Krista Pellizzi said. “She always has the right thing to say at the right time.”
Her teammates beam when they talk about her, speaking only words of respect for the help she has given them.
She shows them some of the subtleties she has learned through her 10 years playing lacrosse, and at the same time, Richards holds strong as one of the emotional leaders on the team.
“She’s been amazing,” sophomore midfielder Kelly Kasper said. “Most people would pout – but she has stood on the sideline and still coaches us no matter where she is, on or off the field.”
Richards carries herself with such a level of maturity that many of her teammates, even some of the older ones, look up to her so much they often use the word “mom” to describe her.
“She has always been a leader, and I feel like the mother figure of the team,” senior midfielder Delia Cox said. “Not older, but in her way of life, more mature.”
Richards chuckled at the parent title but said she knows it is the main way players relate to her.
“I think it is so funny, but hey, I like it,” Richards said. “It is fun because you look at the pictures after the game, I’ve got my arms spread out wide and I have got every single one of the attackers in my arms.”
The players showed their appreciation for their team mom a few weeks ago when they threw her a surprise engagement party.
Her fellow seniors told her it was just a seniors-only hang-out, but when Richards went down to the basement she was greeted by a team singing, “Going to the chapel, and we’re gonna get married.” She was caught completely off-guard.
“The second I saw them I just started crying; I didn’t expect it,” Richards said. “From there on out it was a lot of tears; it was just so nice of them.”
As the team enters the NCAA tournament and Richards nears the end of her lacrosse career, she said it is support and love from her teammates she will miss the most.
But Richards will see them shortly after the season when she walks under the arches of lacrosse sticks as she takes another step, with her teammates again there by her side, bringing in a new role in her life.
This time, though, she can add the word “wife” to the “mom” title.
“When the time comes it comes,” Richards said. “And it is my time.”
Contact reporter Bryan Mann at bmanndbk@gmail.com
