INDIANA — Sports and Kaitlin Sterling have always gone together.

But lacrosse was never a part of that match.

“I had no idea what lacrosse even was,” the Seneca Valley graduate said. “I had never seen it.

“Basketball, volleyball, soccer ... you name it, I played it. I was just athletic and enjoyed playing.”

Her sophomore year in high school, the Raiders’ girls lacrosse team needed a goalkeeper. Her friends approached Sterling about giving it a try.

So she did.

“I had no idea what I was doing,” Sterling recalled, laughing. “I had no pads, no equipment, nothing.”

But once she acquired the equipment and donned it, Sterling turned out to be pretty good between the pipes. She wound up playing for the Midwestern Force, a travel team near Columbus, Ohio, and attracted college interest.

By her senior year, Sterling was receiving Division I and II offers to play lacrosse in college. She wound up joining SV teammate Shannon Quail in accepting an offer from Indiana (Pa.) University.

“Shannon and I were close. We were going to be roommates and were looking forward to being teammates for another four years,” Sterling said.

Only Quail never made it to IUP. She was killed in a car accident during January of her high school senior year.

That left Sterling at a loss to determine her immediate future.

“When something like that happens ... It definitely changes you,” Sterling said of dealing with her friend’s death. “It was so hard ... I didn’t know if I could handle even going to IUP at first.

“I called my coach (Mindy Richmond) and she set me up with another IUP freshman as my roommate.”

Sterling played every minute of every game her freshman year at IUP as she was the only goalie on the roster. She was named all-conference her sophomore season.

“I had just come to IUP and was trying to rebuild the program,” Richmond said. “I needed players and that first year, I just brought in numbers.

“Kaitlin was a notch above the rest of that recruiting class. The crop of freshmen I brought in the following year was better than the bulk of that first class.”

When those freshmen beat out the sophomores for starting positions, many of those second-year players — including Amy Rydeen, Sterling’s roommate — quit the team.

Sterling quit before her junior year as well.

“It hurt losing her,” Richmond said. “We missed her.”

But even without Sterling, the Crimson Hawks posted an 11-6 record, best in the program’s 15-year history.

“Lacrosse was taking up a lot of time and energy,” Sterling said. “I wanted to meet new people and experience college life without having to devote so much time to the sport.

“But I definitely made a mistake. I missed it horribly. I wanted to come back.”

She just wasn’t sure how to go about it.

Richmond noticed Sterling in the weight room working out and asked her if she wanted to try out for the team her senior year.

“I believe in second chances for people,” Richmond said. “But she had a lot of ground to make up.”

And respect to earn.

“I had to get the respect of my teammates back,” Sterling admitted. “But I knew I could do it.”

Sterling wound up splitting time in goal with Chelsey Hipp. The latter played the first halves of games and posted an 8.73 goals-against average. Sterling played the second halves and wound up leading the PSAC with a .481 save percentage.

She had a 7.73 GAA and made 64 saves as IUP put together a 13-3 season, reaching the conference semifinals for the first time.

“Kaitlin had this drive inside of her. She played with a lot of fire, almost angry energy,” Richmond said. “She loved being out there with the game on the line.

“Chelsey was an effective starter because she could settle in right away. They were the perfect tandem.”

Sterling agreed.

“I used to be so nervous being out there at the start of games,” she said. “Chelsey solved that problem.”

A criminology/pre-law major, Sterling carries a 3.6 gradepoint average and has made the Dean’s List in seven semesters. She plans to take a year off before entering graduate school.

“I need to make some money,” she said.

She’s already made some memories.

“My first two years at IUP, we had no goalie coach,” Sterling said. “I performed basically from memory. I was pretty proud of that.

“Once we did get a goalie coach, my skills improved. This was a good way to go out. I learned a lot about myself.

“And I learned to deal with life and never quit,” she added.