Harbinger savors return to field
Kendra Harbinger recalled the exact number of days her Ualbany women’s lacrosse team waited to step on the field to play an official game after COVID -19 shut down the season last year.
“It was I think 349 days,” Harbinger said after the team’s seasonopening match Tuesday against Boston College. “Before the game Coach (Katie Rowan Thomson) had a few of us in tears. She just said, ‘Guys we made it, we are playing a game.’ We’ve been waiting for this for a year. It was very bittersweet.”
Harbinger is a rare two-sport collegiate athlete, an extension of her outstanding high school career as a soccer and lacrosse standout at Shenendehowa. A Clifton Park native, Harbinger was recruited by Ualbany for both sports and chose lacrosse.
Her freshman and sophomore lacrosse seasons were outstanding, garnering America East Rookie of the Year honors as a freshman and racking up America East second team all-conference honors as a sophomore.
As a junior she decided to try out for soccer after discussions with coaches from both sports. She made the team and earned her way into the lineup, playing in all 18 games, including 16 starts, scoring two goals with three assists. She earned America East Offensive Player of the Week honors once.
But during her junior season in lacrosse an old knee injury flared up in practice and she only took the field for two games in the 2020 season. Three games after her injury, COVID -19 hit and the season
was canceled.
After a summer of Zoom calls and getting back into playing shape with both the soccer and lacrosse teams, she was forced to concentrate on lacrosse this year when COVID -19 concerns in the fall of 2020 led to soccer being delayed until spring.
She is off to a fast start on the lacrosse field, scoring three goals and one assist in both a 22-12 loss at Boston College and a 16-2 home victory against St. Bonaventure. On Sunday she chipped in one goal and two assists in a 15-12 hard-fought win over Colgate to remain undefeated at John Fallon Field.
As the Great Danes returned to the playing fields in women’s lacrosse and soccer, I caught up with Harbinger to discuss everything from warmup music to her dog Gus.
Q: What player or players have influenced you the most?
A: I’m a huge USA soccer team fan. I love Tobin Heath. She has a work ethic bigger than anyone I’ve ever seen. She’s a superstar. I also really follow a player from Boston College. Her name is Kenzie Kent and was a two-sport athlete. She played ice hockey and lacrosse at BC, and she was just an animal. I strive to be like her every day.
Q: What is your favorite college course? A: I’m a Bio major, and I’ve decided that I want to be a nurse. I love anatomy and physiology classes probably the most. I love learning about all the body and all the organs and all the bones.
Q: What is your favorite warmup music?
A: This is going to sound funny but Big Booty 17 on Soundcloud. It’s just the best.
Q: How have the Ualbany soccer and lacrosse teams approached the issues of social unrest and social justice?
A: First of all, Ualbany’s president, Havidan Rodriguez, is a leader who is all about inclusivity and accepting everyone here no matter who you are or what race you are or what culture you are from. So that is a really good baseline for Ualbany as a school and for our sports programs. No one looks at our players that come from different cultures as any different. We’re really inclusive and we are like family. We had each other’s backs during the summer and had each other’s shoulders to lean on. We are all family, and we were all here to help each other through that time.
Q: I heard you have a dog Gus who is pretty special. Tell me about him.
A: I think he’s around 2 years old. I rescued him right when we shut down last March, from Rottie Empire Rescue. He was unfortunately abused, and I adopted him. He was hit in the head and lost an eye. He’s a doll and he’s my pride and joy. My family, we are all about helping out when we can, so we’ve been fostering so many dogs during quarantine just because we are all home. It’s been the best experience. It’s been a good experience for us and also my three dogs that we have at home. It’s been really good.
Q: Tell me something about yourself that people who have followed you through your high school and college athletic careers in the newspapers wouldn’t yet know about you.
A: I would save a dog over a human. That’s how much I love dogs. I hope to open my own shelter when I grow up. I just feel like I connect with them so much more than humans sometimes. It’s so funny.
Spoken like a true Great Dane.