Unstoppable: Ella Lucia is Headed to Harvard
Ella (left) is on the run during a 2022 state semifinal girls lacrosse game at Brighton High School. Photo by Susan Adams
By Steve Stein
Ella Lucia is a teenage wonder woman.
She’s a star girls hockey player and an outstanding student who has made a verbal commitment to take her hockey skills and academic acumen to Harvard University, a prestigious Ivy League college.
Lucia announced July 31 that she has “committed to the admissions process” at Harvard. That’s Harvard-speak for she will play hockey at the Division I level for the Crimson. The 17-year-old Bloomfield Hills High School senior also is an All-American high school girls’ lacrosse player.
Her statistics in the two sports are mind-blowing. She’s a center in hockey and an attacking midfielder in lacrosse. Last season with the Little Caesars AAA 16U girls’ hockey team, she had 32 goals and 92 assists for 124 points in 66 games. Not bad for someone who was a figure skater from ages 4 to 9 before beginning her hockey journey at age 10.
AAA is the highest level of girls’ junior hockey. Lucia had 125 goals and 59 assists in 23 games for 186 points this past spring for the Bloomfield Hills girls’ lacrosse team. She was named an All-American, and reached high school career milestones of 200 goals, 100 assists, 100 groundballs, and 200 draw controls last season. She also was named a Division 1 First-Team All-State player as a sophomore and junior.
So why continue her hockey career rather than her lacrosse career in college?
“I’ve played lacrosse longer, but hockey is our family’s sport (her sister, brother, father and cousins either play or have played), and hockey is more physical, more of a contact sport than lacrosse,” she said.
“But I love playing lacrosse, too. It’s fun and I’ve met a lot of people. Plus, It’s a great outlet and a perfect break from hockey. I’ve seen some of my hockey friends who played in the spring get burned out,” Lucia went on to say.
Tom Forgione coached Lucia the past two seasons on the Little Caesars AAA 16U team and will coach her again this season on the Little Caesars 19U team, so he knows what makes her tick as a hockey player.
“No. 1, she’s fiercely competitive,” said Coach Forgione. “And she plays well on both sides of the ice. She’s strong offensively and defensively. That’s rare.”
On top of that, Forgione said, Lucia is a leader who leads by example. She was the team captain last year and will be an assistant captain this season — the only one of the younger players on the team to earn that role.
In the midst of all the time Lucia devotes to sports, she has a 4.1 grade-point average at Bloomfield Hills. How has she done it?
“There’s no time for procrastination,” she said, giving emphasis to each word. “I’m always setting aside time for schoolwork and I’m on top of things at school. When there’s time at school to do homework, I use it.”
Forgione said he isn’t surprised that Lucia excels in the classroom. “That’s a testament to her parents. She was raised the right way,” Forgione said.
Ella plays ‘keep away’ with the puck while playing for the Little Caesars AAA 16U girls hockey team during a 2022 tournament in Pittsburgh. Photo courtesy Little Caesars AAA Hockey Club
Academics is what drew Lucia to Harvard. And hockey, of course. Plus, she said she and her parents “fell in love with Boston” during a trip to visit the university. Cambridge, where Harvard is located, is a Boston suburb. Positive impressions of the Harvard campus and women’s hockey coaching staff sealed the deal for Lucia.
“Ella will do well playing in college. She’s so versatile. She’ll fit in wherever she’s needed,” Forgione said. “I’m happy for Ella. This couldn’t happen to a better kid. All her hard work and dedication are paying off.”
The youngest of three children in the Lucia family, Ella is following in the athletic footsteps of her older siblings, while simultaneously reaching for the stars. Her sister Olivia, 20, played high school girls hockey at Bloomfield Hills. A goalie, she was named Miss Michigan Hockey in her senior year. She’s now a senior at Michigan State University in a pre-law curriculum.
Her brother Kyle, 18, is a sophomore at Michigan State playing for the MSU club hockey team and studying construction management. Ella said her sister and brother have taught her important lessons about life balance, which is especially important with all her time commitments.
“They’ve shown me how to manage my time so I can have a social life, hang out with my friends, and go to family gatherings,” she said. The siblings’ parents are Ken and Karen Lucia. The family lives in Bloomfield Hills.