Rookie of the Year? Must be the bra

Michael Jordan wore his North Carolina shorts under his Chicago Bulls uniform. Wade Boggs ate the same kind of chicken before every game. Patrick Roy talked to his goalposts because they were his "friends."

And then there's Quakers lacrosse midfielder Ali DeLuca. Her long list of superstitions puts those men to shame.

"Last year I had so many that one of my superstitions was to forget a superstition, because I would always forget one," she said.

After a particularly good performance, she insists on adapting the same pregame routine and wearing the exact same clothes. Thus, the number of superstitions builds throughout each season.

Last year, the Quakers only lost two games and DeLuca scored 33 goals, second on the team. Needless to say, by the end of the season, the list had become very long.

She decided to abandon most of those habits before the Red and Blue's opener and build her regime anew, but she kept the essentials.

Those, she said, include wearing her teammate's Pingry High School sports bra for every match. Although she didn't attend Pingry, she played well the first match she borrowed the bra, so it has became a part of her uniform.

She also drinks a Red Bull and listens to the same playlist on her iPod before each match.

"It's something that pumps you up," DeLuca said. "I think a lot of people do that."

But there are many other habits that are more unique to DeLuca. When she stretches, she has to tie or retie her shoes, right and then left.

With so many things to remember, she frequently needs a reminder from roommate and teammate Barb Seaman.

"It's great because Barb stretches to the right of me" DeLuca said. "So the first game I was, like, 'if you see me not tying my shoes as I stretch, you have to let me know.'"

And during the national anthem, DeLuca repeats the same internal monologue to herself. She would not divulge the words, but she hinted that it is a prayer for her team to play well and win.

The two routines from last year that DeLuca has admitted to ending are uniform-related. Last year she regularly wore the skirt for the No. 13 uniform, despite sporting No. 10 on her back. She also wore a black headband for every game.

This year, she has accepted that she has to wear her own No. 10 skirt, as freshman Giulia Giordano now wears No. 13.

However, she is still working on building a new routine for her headband. She wore pre-wrap for the first game, a victory on the road against Drexel. She plans to wear the pre-wrap for away games, and a white headband for home games. The home game routine, however, has not yet been tested, and it will probably change if the team does not play well at home.

The superstitions work both ways. If she or her team plays badly one game, DeLuca will look to eliminate any noticeable changes in attire or routine. She sported French-braid pigtails for a game last year, and played one of the worst games in her career. Since then, DeLuca has promised to only wear buns on game days.

Although the list seems to be getting out of hand, it works for DeLuca. In addition to the team's Ivy League Championship and Final Four appearance, DeLuca was named Ivy League Rookie of Year and was selected to the US Lacrosse Developmental team.

When asked if her superstitions were the reason that she won Rookie of the Year, DeLuca jokingly answered, "Yeah! And if anybody tells you otherwise, it's not true. That was the reason."

She does, however, have a more reasonable explanation for why they help her to perform well.

"It keeps you focused during the game and keeps you in line and pumped up for what you are about to do. I think a lot of it is just mentally preparing you for the game."

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