New Haven Register (New Haven, CT)
JEFF JACOBS
Trio ready for Wesleyan’s Final Four journey
Edging slowly through the Jersey traffic, Mom and Dad followed the Wesleyan women’s team bus Thursday as it headed on the long ride from Middletown to practice at U.S. Lacrosse headquarters in Maryland. Ahead, in Virginia, lie dreams of a national championship.
Riding shotgun in his car seat was Jackson Albino.
“I’m sure you can hear him,” coach Kim Williams said.
Jackson is one day older than a 2019 Wesleyan season that has grown magical as it hits the final days of May. The Cardinals knocked off No. 2 Washington and Lee before stunning No. 1 Gettysburg, the twotime national champion, at Gettysburg last weekend. On Saturday in the national Division III lacrosse semifinals at Randolph-Macon, just outside Richmond, is a rematch with No. 3 Middlebury. The Panthers edged Wesleyan 8-7 when Jackson was 15 days old, but as the little guy will tell you, that was a long time ago.
He’s nearly three months old now.
Williams and her husband, Nelson Albino, the associate head women’s basketball coach at Wesleyan, were girding for a March 2 due date, the same day circled on the calendar as the season opener at Williams.
“I knew that no matter what, my doctor wasn’t going to let me travel,” Williams said. “So I was really hoping he would come before that, because not being able to travel with my team and him not being here would make me crazy on March 2.
“Luckily, he decided to come on March 1. I actually went into labor early the day before, very early labor. I got through work, got
through practice and went to (Middlesex) Hospital.”
Jackson, the couple’s first child, didn’t arrive until 9 o’clock the following night.
“Yeah, I was in labor for a pretty long time,” Williams said.
Wesleyan would win that opener and three more before the loss to Middlebury. There would be another win over Babson and just like that, Williams — dedicated, fit, motivated — was back on the sidelines.
“I was home fully for two weeks with my husband and Jackson,” Williams said. “I went back for practices and it worked out well because it was the second week of spring break and we had a full week of practice before the next game against Kean (March 23).”
Both from New Jersey, Nelson and Kim met in 2011 while they were assistant coaches at Colby in Waterville, Maine. A bunch of assistants shared an office they called the dungeon.
“At Colby, you’re pretty much in the middle of nowhere and no one is from there,” Williams said. “The assistants become a close group.”
So here was Nelson sitting in the dungeon.
“I didn’t think I ever had a chance of dating Kim, she’s so beautiful,” Albino said. “We got to know each other and became friends pretty quickly. She’s funny, kind, compassionate for others; that struck me right away. I loved how competitive she is.”
The coaches would play hoops at lunch time.
“It was pretty funny,” Albino said. “We’re supercompetitive. When we were on opposite teams, she wanted to kick my butt and vice versa.”
Somewhere between a crossover dribble and a drive to the hoop, Nelson had a chance. Sports. Got to love them. The two were married in 2016.
Jackson’s first road trip would be at Stevens on March 27. Mom and Dad followed the bus to Hoboken. The logistics couldn’t have been better.
“Nelson took the baby to his grandmother’s house a block away from Stevens and his parents came to the game,” Williams said. “It’s worked out perfectly. It was a nice shorter trip before our 4 1⁄2-hour ride there and
back for a game (three days later) at Colby.”
Yep, Jackson is a road warrior. Dad is the one carrying the diapers at games.
“It has been super fun, but it is also challenging in certain ways,” Albino said. “It’s not him. It’s the weather. Last weekend at Gettysburg because of the heat I didn’t want to have him outside and watched on my phone and iPad inside. In other games, because it’s so cold, we ended up in the car most of the time. We’ve been lucky a few times.
“He has been super easy to deal with and he’s already such a great traveler. We’ve been lucky because he falls asleep in that car seat almost instantaneously.”
Williams, a three-time Division II All-American at C.W. Post, took over a Wesleyan program that had suffered through eight successive losing seasons. The Cardinals went 5-9 her first year in 2016, but a culture shift had begun immediately. Wesleyan, which had never qualified for the NCAA Tournament, has advanced to the NCAAs three years in a row. The Cardinals are 40-16 since 2017 and the 17 wins in 20 games this season is a program record. If all this sounds as if it should be accompanied by a thunderclap, there’s that, too. The victory over Gettysburg was twice delayed by lightning and took four hours to complete.
“From the beginning we focused on raising the standards and expectations,” Williams said. “I think in the past the girls thought they were working hard enough, but the NESCAC is such a competitive league.”
The offseason became a major focus. Work in the weight room, team building, the coach’s work ethic and drive spread.
“We wanted to make sure we were the hardest-working team out there,” Williams said. “We are grinders. That’s what we’re known for. Yes, it’s about getting better lacrosse players, but how we battle on the field is something we’ve showcased since our first year.”
The discipline, the work ethic, run in the family. Kim’s older sister Allie is a major in the U.S. Marine Corps stationed in California the past two years. Teaching her sacrifice and perspective, Kim has called Allie her hero.
“We grew up very close,” Kim said. “I actually got to see her a few days ago. She’s having a baby as well, due in July. She had been on the East Coast before (at Quantico) and we’re hoping she’ll be coming back soon so the cousins can grow up closer together.”
Allie spoke to the team in Kim’s first year before a game against Williams.
“It’s funny,” Williams said, “we didn’t talk about what she was going to say to the team. But everything she said, wow, it was exactly what I would have wanted in motivating them.
“Sports and military have been male-driven and we share ideas about females with leadership, building confidence and holding high standards. We’re very similar in terms of leadership style and work ethic.”
Nelson, who had coached the men’s game at four colleges — the last Connecticut College — before Wesleyan, has watched carefully.
“I’ve learned a lot from Kim and leaned on her in moving to the women’s game and to this specific setting,” Albino said. “It’s high academic and challenging, being conscious of workloads and commitments, but at the same time there’s a standard and level of expectation these young women need to adhere to if they want to be great. We talk about being great in academics and athletics and to do that you have to commit to it. With Kim, I saw first-hand how to do that effectively. I wasn’t afraid to challenge the girls while encouraging them.”
When the NCAA brackets were announced, Williams didn’t have to say much to challenge her Cardinals. The nation’s top two teams stood between them and the Final Four.
“We said it doesn’t matter when you play them in terms of winning a national championship,” Williams said. “The girls were so ready last weekend. They showed fight. Weather delays, heat we weren’t used to; they were resilient. Now we play a team our senior class hasn’t beaten yet in the NESCAC. The motivation is definitely there.”
Beware, Middlebury. Jackson, road warrior, will be there this time.