By Brendan Kurie, South Coast Today 

Grace Gamache scored 48 goals in 13 games for Framingham State last season.

But she says she didn't play a college game at full health until Feb. 28 of this year.

That's because the Dartmouth High grad spent last season battling mononucleosis. She missed the first six games and ended up making only 12 starts, although she still finished with 54 points, 18 groundballs, 40 draw controls, five caused turnovers and an 84.0 shooting percentage.

So far this season she's picked up right where she left off, scoring multiple goals in seven of the Rams' first eight games and recording at least four points in seven of eight. Her hot start earned her MASCAC Player of the Week honors after recording 13 goals and 10 assists in a 3-0 week for FSU.

"I was excited to come back, so that pushed me to do my best," she said. "I think, this year, I came back ready, knowing I was having a full season ahead of me. I was excited because that pushed me to make up for what I missed."

One of her points of emphasis this year was on being more of a distributor this season, after she recorded just six assists last year. She already has 24 this season.

"That's something I wanted to work on was my points were throughout, not just goals alone," she said. "I have to be feed-ready and looking for my teammates and seeing the field and being ready to score or assist."

The other reason Gamache is notching more assists is that Shae Riley — a sophomore from Fairhaven — tore her ACL, leaving the Rams without one of their top playmakers and assist leaders.

"With the loss of her, I felt someone had to step up and fill the role," Gamache said.

Also on the team is Caitlin Baril, an Apponequet graduate who has played six games in the midfield. Normally, the three of them play together.

"I think we're really, really good," Gamache said of the team as a whole, which is off to a 7-1 start. "We're the strongest we've ever been. It's awesome. It's exciting."

Gamache is a big reason for that hot start. She has 27 goals and 24 assists in her first eight games, adding seven groundballs, 46 draw controls and four caused turnovers. She is leading the MASCAC in points (51) by 11 and is second in goals.

"After having one year under my belt, I knew what I needed to work on," Gamache said. "I was working on my agility, my speed, my endurance, my shooting and my stick skills."

Much of that work was done over the summer while she worked as a camp counselor at Camp Huckins in Ossipee, New Hampshire, where she has spent the last nine summers. In order to fit in a lacrosse workout, she would wake up at 6 a.m.

"It definitely made it a little though (to get in workouts)," she said. "I'd wake up early and go for a run and go down to the field and do sprints and throw around with friends."

Gamache is an elementary education major with a concentration in sociology. She hopes to become a second or third grade teacher, following in her mother's footsteps. Leslie Gamache is a third-grade teacher at DeMello Elementary in Dartmouth. Grace's father, David, is a sales rep, her older sister Ellie attends Endicott and her younger brothers, Charlie and John, both play lacrosse at Dartmouth High. Charlie will be the Indians' starting goalie this season.

″(Lacrosse) is definitely a huge part of our family," Grace said. "My dad and mom started the girls youth program when I was in third grade."

Now, Gamache will help lead the Rams into their conference schedule, with the ultimate goal of winning a MASCAC title, something that seemed like a pipe dream when the current seniors were freshman and the team went 1-16.

Last year, FSU reached the MASCAC semifinals before losing to Westfield State.

"I think we have a really good shot at it," Gamache said. "What I've learned in being here a year and a half is seeing how far the program has come. It's exciting for everyone. I'd like tow in the MASCAC for the next three years, but at least one time."