When the Wellesley Raiders scored midway through a tense soccer game, senior Elin Lindgren-Palm didn’t panic. She gathered her teammates, delivered a calm pep talk and then scored the game-tying goal.
As a captain of girls varsity soccer and lacrosse teams, Lindgren-Palm is taking her talent to the next level at Mount Holyoke College, where she will compete in both sports at the Division III level. Teammates and coaches spoke to her ability to stay calm under pressure and lift the team up.
Lindgren-Palm said she first thought about playing soccer in college when her 8th grade soccer coach told her she could.
“I was considering quitting soccer and starting field hockey, and my soccer coach was like, ‘No, that’s ridiculous. You’re someone who could play at a school like Mount Holyoke.’ And it’s just a crazy coincidence that that’s where I ended up,” Lindgren-Palm said.
Lindgren-Palm was initially only interested in playing soccer in college. But after mentioning she plays lacrosse, she was able to connect with the Mount Holyoke lacrosse coach and was eventually offered a spot on the team.
According to Ben Peters, the girls varsity soccer head coach, Lindgren-Palm consistently served as a calming presence on the team.
“She led by example out there. If the team needed some stability and a sense of calmness, she was the one they looked towards,” Peters said. “She was really good at staying calm under pressure and staying positive with everybody.”
Senior and teammate Priscila Hill said Lindgren-Palm knows how to communicate with both teams in a constructive and supportive way.
“Now that she’s captain on both [teams], she’s so good at talking to her teammates,” Hill said. “She knows exactly what to say to people. She knows how to be stern when she needs to be, but she’s also so positive and uplifting.”
Hill also said that Lindgren-Palm’s influence is especially noticeable during difficult moments in games.
“Midgame, she’s super chill and able to take a step back and say, ‘okay, this is what we’re doing well and what we’re not doing well.’ I think that also channels into being a good friend and a good role model,” Hill said.
Lindgren-Palm said stepping into the role of captain on the soccer team helped her find her voice and use it to represent teammates who didn’t always feel comfortable speaking up.
“This year, what really changed is I felt like I had a voice,” Lindgren-Palm said. “I’m more introverted, so people listening to me when I talked was different; it was a change that I had to get used to. It also allowed me to speak for other people on the team who also weren’t feeling comfortable sharing their voices. So I got to express a different side of the team that hasn’t always been heard.”
Peters coached Lindgren-Palm during her junior and senior seasons. During those two years, Peters said he noticed her development as a player and as a person.
“As a player, she’s grown very quickly. She works really hard on the field, and during practice, she likes to push herself and her teammates really well. As a person, she’s just an amazing human being. She’s so kind, so thoughtful, so supportive of her teammates. And she crushed it this year,” Peters said.
Lindgren-Palm said she will miss the friendships she formed with her high school soccer and lacrosse teammates the most.
“The people at BHS are amazing, and thanks to sports, I have a lot of them in my life,” Lindgren-Palm said. “I’ll continue to talk to them through college, but I’m really going to miss seeing them every day at practice.”
