With a goal in the second quarter of a March 23 game against Christopher Newport University, graduating senior attacker Margie Carden became the all-time leading points scorer in Tufts women’s lacrosse history, breaking a record that had stood for almost 30 years.
Carden has been unstoppable throughout her college career, and her accomplishments are almost too many to list. She burst onto the scene as a first-year, scoring 69 goals to break the team single-season record of 62. Seven of those goals came in Tufts’ NCAA Final Four matchup against The College of New Jersey, as her outstanding performance sent Tufts to the title game.
As a sophomore, she tied her own single-season goals record, and in her junior season, she added 59 more goals, breaking the school record of 192 in the process. She holds three of the four top goal-scoring seasons in Tufts history and has received All-NESCAC honors in each of her first three seasons, making the second team in 2022 and the first team in 2023 and 2024. After completely rewriting the program’s record books, she’ll leave Tufts as one of the most decorated athletes the school has ever seen.
However, she never could have imagined all of the success she’d have with the Jumbos before her first season. When asked if she imagined breaking any records before coming to Tufts, she said, “Definitely no. I thought that I would have some sort of role in getting our team to some of these championship games. I didn’t know what it would be.”
Rebecca Black (LA’96), whose all-time leading points record of 271 points Carden broke, was happy to see her mark fall. “I always hoped it would be broken,” Black said. “I have no attachment to the record, only to the strength of women’s lacrosse at Tufts.”
Black remembers Tufts women’s lacrosse being competitive during her career, and she was a part of an ECAC-winning team — the 1995 equivalent of the NESCAC. However, Tufts couldn’t compete at the NCAA level then, so for her, it is exciting to watch the success the team is having now. She continues to follow the program: “I just have a real love for the game, and I have delighted in watching Tufts women’s lacrosse, year after year, crush it,” she said.
Just as Black hoped, Tufts women’s lacrosse has become one of the strongest NCAA Division III programs, and Carden’s success in lacrosse at Tufts is a reflection of that competitiveness. Tufts has appeared in four of the last five NESCAC championship games, winning the title in 2021 and 2022, the latter of which was Carden’s first year. Not only that, but they’ve also experienced success in the NCAA tournament, reaching the championship in Carden’s first year and the quarterfinals in each of the last two years. Carden mentioned her desire to win a championship as a major factor in her decision to play for the Jumbos.
“I knew every single year, I wanted to at least have an opportunity to win a championship,” Carden said. “At the time I was looking at Tufts, they had just started to really pick up their record.”
The competitiveness of Tufts women’s lacrosse during Carden’s career has helped her stats by simply giving her more opportunities to excel.
“Each year, we’re playing at least three or four more games than the typical team just from winning and moving on to the next round of the playoffs,” Carden said.
Carden credited her hard work, along with her Tufts teammates and coaches, for her success. “Strong work ethic allows you to even have a chance to pursue some of these goals,” Carden said. “I’ve just had a lot of support from my teammates and my coaches, and I’ve felt like they really believed in me.”
As for her skill set, Carden identified her vision and lacrosse IQ as two major assets. “I think being able to see the field really well is important, especially to be a dynamic offensive player,” Carden said. “You need to show up physically, but being able to read the play and the situation is something that can separate an average player from someone who’s performing at the top of their game pretty consistently.”
One thing that both Black and Carden acknowledged was the role of their teammates in their individual success. “My teammates were terrific. We believed in each other. We all wanted to win,” Black said. “This isn’t like swimming or tennis, where an individual can shine without the support of the team. Here, you really need the whole team in order for individuals to shine.”
Carden also spoke to the supportive culture of her team. “I think [it’s] just knowing you’re surrounded by so many people who really want to get better … to bring the best that they can to the field each day,” Carden said. “Having that support and people who really, really want to win has been awesome.”
Thanks to the development of new talent, Carden’s role on the team has changed since her first year. During her first and sophomore years, she led Tufts in points by 28 and 15, respectively. In her junior year, however, she was second on the team behind rising senior and midfielder Ella Lesperance, who set a new Tufts single-season points record with 92, and this year, rising senior and attacker Allie Zorn has led the team in points, with Carden and Lesperance close behind. The emergence of a more complete group of attackers has helped take some of the pressure off Carden on offense, as she hasn’t had to carry the load by herself.
“I think [during my first] year … [I] felt maybe a little bit more pressure to be putting up a ton of points every single game, where now we have such a crazy talented group of attackers and midfielders,” Carden said. “I think that’s allowed my role to change. With the amount of attention you may see each game, you might not be the one finishing the play but getting it started.”
In this modified role, Carden remains a prolific goal scorer but has also had success in setting up teammates. While she scored over 25% of the Jumbos’ goals in her sophomore year, that percentage was just under 17% last year, and it’s been a similar story this season. However, Carden’s overall point production has remained remarkably consistent thanks to her rising assist totals, as she set a career high last year with 24 assists. The drop in her share of the Jumbos’ goals is also a reflection of her teammates’ increasing success — a trade-off that Carden will gladly take.
The ability to put the team first is a trait that Carden shares with Black. In talking about her record, Black said, “The truth is: It’s such a team sport. I only was able to score because other people were able, from the goalie all the way up, to get me the ball.” As far as her scoring record goes, she saw it as nothing more than the result of her doing her job on the team. “My role on the team was to be assisting in scoring because I was the attack player. … I don’t think I was particularly better than anybody else. I just think that was my job on the team,” Black said.
In spite of all of her success, Carden has remained laser-focused on achieving the team’s ultimate goals. “I think all the personal goals [and] achievements have been fun, but we haven’t gotten to that overarching goal that everyone has for the end of the season, so that’s definitely paramount,” Carden said.
Carden’s overarching focus has been on the success of the team and her drive to win, rather than merely to put up numbers or to stand out. Not only are her personal accomplishments remarkable, but she’s also been able to adapt to a new role that helps her teammates thrive, even if it has taken some of the spotlight off of her. The fact that she’s continued to put up gaudy point totals is a testament to her hard work, adaptability and chemistry with her teammates. The program is undoubtedly better off thanks to all of the work that she has put in.
For her part, Black is grateful for the continued strength of Tufts women’s lacrosse, seeing it as a sign of the rising popularity of women’s sports in general. “I’m appreciative that Tufts has put a lot of effort and energy into their athletics, in particular their women’s athletics because it’s so great to see all of the excitement around women’s sports,” Black said.
Carden’s departure no doubt leaves enormous shoes to fill for Tufts women’s lacrosse. That being said, the team’s consistent success, especially during her tenure, will no doubt make it that much easier for the Jumbos to continue recruiting elite talent and field competitive teams. There’s no reason to believe that Tufts lacrosse can’t continue to be among the very best Division III programs. And if she’s anything like Black, that will be a rewarding legacy.
