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Luci Day’s earliest memories of her time on The College of Wooster field hockey team include having a “difficult time keeping up with the (opposing) forwards.” However, once settled into the program, Day stayed ahead of the pack, became the program’s first three-time first-team All-Great Lakes Region honoree, and earned two All-American certificates.
“Early in my freshman year, Brenda Meese put me in at right halfback on a very muddy field due to rain the night before,” recalled Day. “For some reason, Brenda started me the very next game, and we never looked back.”
Day went on to start 15 of Wooster’s 19 games as a rookie, a year in which the Fighting Scots held the opposition to 1.73 goals per game. Day’s play caught the eye of the North Coast Athletic Conference head coaches, who voted the first-year to the second-team all-conference squad.
“Luci had solid skills, but was also pretty unflappable, which made her a great cornerstone for our defense,” said Meese. “I played her at center back, and she proved to be able to serve well as the link between our offense and defense. Luci had good speed and great determination. Very little got by her. While not a big scorer, she was one of the reasons we had a good attack.”
Wooster’s best season during Day’s career came in 1991. That year, the Scots allowed a mere 1.4 goals per game, while stringing together a 13-5-1 record, and that resulted in the first of two straight runner-up finishes in the NCAC. Led by Day and Kate Sanderson, Wooster logged four shutouts and held eight opponents to one goal.
Individually, Day’s contributions started to trickle down to the offensive end of the field. Her first career goal came in a 4-0 win against Transylvania University. At the end of the season, the NCAC coaches elevated Day to first-team all-conference, and the first of three consecutive first-team all-region certificates followed soon after.
As a junior, Day scored the game-winner in a 2-0 shutout against Ohio Wesleyan University, in what marked the Scots’ first win over the then-conference power in a span of 12 games dating back to 1986. That win moved Wooster into the driver’s seat in the NCAC, but Ohio Wesleyan pulled into first place during the home stretch of the season.
Day’s junior year was her best offensively, as the co-captain delivered the golden goal in a 1-0 win over Kenyon College in the season finale. Defensively, the center back was part of a unit that held the opposition to 1.58 goals per game. After second straight first-team all-conference and all-region announcements, Day debuted on the College Field Hockey Coaches Association All-America Team as a third-team selection.
While Wooster didn’t have the level of team success it enjoyed during Day’s sophomore and junior seasons, the awards continued to roll in for the senior in 1993. The center back was elevated to second-team All-American after earning her third first-team all-region and all-conference certificates.
Wooster was recommended to Day by a high school college counselor, and she “liked Wooster because it was more diverse than some of the other Ohio liberal arts schools.”
Originally, a two-sport student-athlete, Day emerged as the Scots’ starting goalkeeper in lacrosse as a first-year before focusing on other activities at Wooster. One of those was volunteering at Boys Village, a juvenile delinquent organization for boys outside of Wooster.
After graduating with a degree in English, Day started working on the editorial side of Forbes before transitioning over to business development roles with various media companies including Sports Illustrated, LIFE, and Parade, where she currently works as a business development consultant.
Personally, Day and husband, Peter, now call Duxbury, Mass. home. The couple has two children, Tripp (8) and June (6).