via USA Lacrosse Magazine Online, by Beth Ann Mayer

(FLN: I mentioned this on Morning Coffee today; this is one of the most intense lacrosse articles I’ve ever read, so be ready to be moved. Also note that Lola Mancuso, the AH-Plantation alum, was Xavier’s leading scorer this past season, as a freshman. Lola, I’d love to hear from you about the experience from the player’s perspective.)

Excerpt:

Meg Decker guided the Xavier women’s lacrosse team through its first season this spring.

With a roster comprised primarily of first-year players, the Musketeers finished 4-10, ending the year with a 22-6 loss to UConn. The sideline celebrated every little victory that game.

The sideline also included a face familiar to anyone who has followed the sport for nearly three decades: Janine Tucker.

Why Tucker was there is part of a half-decade battle Decker has fought alongside her husband, Matt Zink — mostly privately. Decker is telling her story to let anyone else struggling outside the lines know they aren’t alone and because she and her husband want to say thank you.

“[Matt] doesn’t like for people to know he’s sick, but he told me to do this article,” Decker said. “We can’t possibly thank people enough. Maybe this will be a thank you.”

THEY MET AT A WEDDING, of all places, in 2017. They hit it off, but Decker didn’t hear from Zink for months. She found out through mutual friends he had leukemia — a first clue into how private he was about his illness.

But in the spring of 2018, Zink called her “out of nowhere.”

“He hadn’t thought he would make it to his birthday, but he did and was in remission,” Decker said.

Read the rest HERE