It was a dreary October day at Robb Sports Complex. The Shippensburg University field hockey team is celebrating after a goal in the 57th minute gave an SU forward her first collegiate hat trick.

As the players swarm her to celebrate, “Hail to the Chief” plays over the loud speaker.

It was a career day for Madison Scarr, SU’s senior Student Senate President, who scored three goals in a 9-1 thrashing of Indiana University of Pennsylvania on Oct. 14.

“Going into the game I hadn’t scored in a while,” Scarr said. “So, scoring three times in a row like that was amazing. It was like, there is that player I’ve waited to see. But I couldn’t do it without my teammates. It’s easy to be a selfish player and not pass the ball, but everyone is so selfless and they passed. It’s what has made us such a great team.”

The goal song idea came from a suggestion from teammates, prompting Scarr to choose it.

“It was funny during preseason because we had never done that before,” Scarr said. “We were trying to pick our songs and one of my teammates suggested it and I thought that it was kind of funny, so I chose it. Every game my teammates said they wanted to hear that scoring song, and if I made a big play they’d say things like ‘that’s my president.’ It was fun.”

Scarr received a bigger role shortly after her career day, rotating time with forward Lauren Zengulis, and the tandem was crucial to the success of the Raiders. Scarr took advantage of the opportunity, scoring a career-high seven goals to go along with two assists in 2017.

For as strong as Scarr had been on the field this season, she just as perfectly exemplifies the term “student athlete,” as the accounting major has been selected to multiple National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) All-Academic Teams as well as earning the prestigious NCAA Elite 90 award in 2016, which is awarded to the athlete at the championship site with the highest GPA out of all the teams. 

Scarr won the award with a perfect 4.0 in the fall semester of 2016.

“It was awesome,” Scarr said. “My first two years, I busted my butt because I knew my last two years here were going to be tough in the program I’m in. It was an amazing honor because I was awarded for the hard work I put in for my freshman and sophomore year, but I could’ve never got the award if my teammates hadn’t worked so hard on the field.”

Off the field, balance is the biggest challenge for the senior, who has an endless amount of responsibilities between field hockey, student senate and keeping her grades up to her high standard.

“I do a lot with student government as far as responding to a lot of emails and meeting with important people,” Scarr said. “I do it because I love Shippensburg. I also have a lot of responsibilities on the field as an athlete. I take a lot of pride in it and I put a lot of work in because I have so many things going on, but when you’re really passionate and care a lot about something you find the time to get it done.”

This season, Scarr once again rose to the highest level at the NCAA finals, this time on the field, as she buried the first goal of the 2017 NCAA title game. Scarr’s goal opened the floodgates for what would be a 4-1 victory over LIU-Post, to secure her second-straight national championship.

“Maddie read the situation beautifully, and she has a knack for that,” SU head coach Tara Zollinger said. “That gave us huge momentum going forward.” 

Scarr reflected on the feeling of winning a national championship — something she holds in high regard.

“It was amazing. It’s an amazing feeling,” Scarr said. “You just get to the Final Four and that energy is incredible. The love everyone has for the game and when it comes down to it we are all just athletes doing what we love. It’s an insane feeling.”

Scarr’s love for SU has shown in her work on and off the field, and she feels as if she’s found a bunch of different families as a part of the SU community.

“I have so many different families,” Scarr said. “I have Student Senate, I have my teammates, my coaches, my professors. I take a lot of honor and pride in that.”

Her real family has meant a lot to her as well. Scarr credits her father as her biggest motivator.

“He pushes me to be able to provide for myself, and he always tells me that school isn’t really that hard it just takes time,” Scarr said. 

In her free time, Scarr also plays the piano and has since she was in the first grade, with years of advanced lessons. 

“Piano has been like a side thing for me,” Scarr said. “It’s something that is relaxing to me. I like to sit down and play and the 12 years I took lessons has inspired my mom to play. It’s nice to use it to get away from some of the craziness sometimes.”

Scarr finished her field hockey career with 14 goals and seven assists in 59 games. She also registered 57 shots, 37 of which were on goal.

Scarr will graduate in the spring with a degree in accounting, and with her expertise in the classroom and a tireless work ethic, success will follow her wherever life takes her.

Share