Paul VI High School senior Emma McCarthy can almost be considered a superhero when it comes to soccer, lacrosse and academics.
Last year, she rose to superstar status by scoring the game-winning goal in the state championship, giving Paul VI its first soccer state title in school history. She helped the Eagles do it again as a senior captain last fall, when Paul VI repeated as Non-Public A state champs with an unprecedented undefeated season.
Somehow, she’s even better at lacrosse. McCarthy is already the school record-holder in goals and points, and she is committed to play for four-time NCAA National Champion University of North Carolina next year.
“It was my dream from the time I was in sixth grade,” McCarthy said of becoming a Tar Heel. “They are one of the top colleges in the country. Academics has always been a priority for me, [plus] that tradition of winning is something I want to be a part of.”
That winning tradition has family roots, too. Her mother is Jill McCarthy, a former Division 1 lacrosse player at Rutgers University who signed on as an assistant coach for Paul VI during McCarthy’s freshman year. She became the head coach the following season.
McCarthy’s father, Bill, was a sixth-round draft pick of the Atlanta Braves. He spent four years at the AAA minor league level, primarily with the Richmond Braves.
As she wraps up her senior year, she’s helping Paul VI continue to be one of the best lacrosse programs in South Jersey. Following 14-5 and 11-6 seasons, the Eagles raced out to a 5-0 record this spring. Through Easter, McCarthy had 28 goals and nine assists in just five games. At that point, she had accumulated 254 career goals and 121 assists.
In addition, McCarthy’s younger sister, Reese, is a budding superstar at lacrosse who is currently in seventh grade. The girls often work on their lacrosse skills together. Training her sister is one way of paving the future of the Paul VI lacrosse program. But it doesn’t stop there: McCarthy wants the Eagles to be a destination program after she leaves.
“I’m a little bit involved with some youth clubs, and I’m hearing about the girls who want to come to PVI [and] are dominant lacrosse players,” she said. “It makes me get choked up. My younger sister is going to be coming in, too, and seeing the group of girls she will be surrounded by that want to build up this program is really exciting.”
There’s none more exciting than McCarthy, who stacked the trophy case and altered the history of two sports programs. She also rocks a 4.6 grade point average and is in the top 20 percent of her class academically. At North Carolina, she will likely pursue business classes with an eye on finance, although she will officially enter as undecided. It’s a nod to her father, who is the president of Securitas Healthcare.
“A lot of times, it’s just surreal,” Jill McCarthy said, reflecting on her daughter’s success. “Like is that really my kid that they’re talking about and that’s going on to this super exciting future? As a parent, to see the work she puts in and the sacrifices she has made over the years, just makes me so proud of her.”
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