Photo by Steve Buchanan Photography
Ryan Dineen constantly thought about playing college lacrosse in middle school, calling it her “dream.” In pursuit of that dream, she began attending lacrosse camps to sharpen her skills. Dineen, a rising eighth grader at the time, participated in a camp at Severn School in 2017. To her, none of the others compared.
“I just loved Severn,” she recalls. “I really liked the coach and everything about the school. It was an opportunity I really wanted to pursue. I wanted to compete in the best league (Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland A Conference) in the country and compete against girls who would make me better.”
There was one big inconvenience: Dineen lived about an hour away from the Severna Park school, in Huntingtown, Calvert County. But her parents were behind her all the way. Her father Jack, who played lacrosse at Lake Forest College in Illinois, drove her to school most of the time during her first years of high school. The family’s decision ultimately produced the intended results.
Dineen, now a senior, will be attending the University of Denver, one of the top women’s programs in the country, on a lacrosse scholarship. She committed to the school in September and had offers from two other elite programs: Rutgers and Jacksonville universities.
The 5-foot-10 Dineen, also a Severn field hockey player, dominates games for Severn and her club lacrosse team, the Maryland United, with her outstanding quickness and an accurate shot. In addition to those qualities, Maryland United Coach Paul Billingsley says Dineen has the ability to go around defenders like a running back. That’s a big reason why she’s able to score goals, and lots of them.
When a foul is called one of one of Dineen’s opponents for a rough play, she has a choice of a free position shot eight meters from the goal or passing to a teammate to run down the clock late in game.
“She is one of the better finishers I’ve had and I’ve been coaching for 20 years,” Billingsley explains. “I have so much confidence in her that I know when she has a free position shot, she will bury it. We can hold onto the ball to protect a lead, but I let her shoot because it’s a guaranteed goal.”
The 17-year-old Dineen blossomed as a player competing for Maryland United for the past five years. The club team faces off against some of the nation’s top opponents from throughout the mid-Atlantic region. She’s played lacrosse for 13 years overall.
“We go against the top from up and down the East Coast,” Billingsley says. “The quality of play is, what I would say, double or triple of what she is seeing in high school. That alone increased her skills and lacrosse I.Q. She’s been a huge contributor to our team.”
At Severn, Dineen’s best season came this past spring when she earned First-Team IAAM A Conference honors. She ranked among her team leaders in goals (33) and draws (30). Dineen had some memorable games. She recorded three goals against Archbishop Spalding in a playoff game and scored four goals versus both St. Paul’s School for Girls and John Carroll.
“She was by far our best player this year,” Severn Girls Lacrosse Coach Kathy Rudkin says. “She is so smooth. Sometimes, when she does things, everybody looks around and says, ‘Wow.’”
Dineen also excels in field hockey. She earned MVP honors on the Severn jayvee as a freshman, then became a starter at midfield the following season. Dineen played club field hockey, too, for Sparks and she was a member of the team that won an indoor national championship in 2018.
“I love field hockey too,” Dineen says. “I want to play it for as long as I can.”
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