Georgia transfers find home on Montreat lacrosse field
Carlie Henning and Kate Gauntlett become first Cavs to earn Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association awards
Tom Flynn
Guest contributor
The Valley Echo
March 17, 2022
Carlie Henning, left, and Kate Gauntlett became the first players in the history of the Montreat College women’s lacrosse program to earn IWLCA awards after transferring to the college earlier this year. Photo courtesy of Chris Smith
Carlie Henning and Kate Gauntlett are the two newest members of the women’s lacrosse team at Montreat College, having joined at midseason via transfer. The pair arrived at Montreat from both very similar and very different places and earlier this season reunited again in one lofty spot as the first-ever winners of the Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association’s award for NAIA players.
Henning, a junior goalkeeper for the Cavaliers, captured the IWLCA national defensive player of the week award while Gauntlett, also a junior, plays attack for Montreat and earned the nod as the offensive player of the week. They garnered their respective honors after just their first two games in a Cavaliers’ uniform.
The two hail from Dawsonville, Georgia, a town of 2,500 on the northwestern tip of the state’s sprawling Lake Lanier, roughly an hour north of downtown Atlanta. In sweeping the national player of the week awards, the two became the first to win a weekly honor of any kind for Montreat, on a conference or national basis, since the program began play in 2015. Last year, junior Izzy Knight captured the conference’s offensive player of the year award when she tallied 66 goals, but a weekly honor managed to elude her.
Gauntlett first began playing when she was in fifth grade after spotting a sign outside her elementary school as her dad dropped her off for the day. “There was a sign that read, ‘Come Try Lacrosse,’ and I said, ‘Hey dad, I should try lacrosse; I think that would be fun,” said Gauntlett. “Then I did, and here I am.”
“Here” at present is as the most prolific scorer in the entire college lacrosse world across all divisions. Through nine games, Gauntlett had an even 50 goals and tacked on 20 assists.
She first began considering college lacrosse in eighth grade. At the time, she was a member of the Georgia-based Eagle Stix club team, and the culture there was one of focus on playing Division I lacrosse. “It’s a great program and club. I got my first look in eighth grade and then committed to Arizona State my sophomore year,” said Gauntlett.
The two players initially met in sixth grade, and it was their shared interest in lacrosse that helped their friendship blossom two years later. “When I started playing lacrosse in eighth grade is when we became close. Her dad was my coach, and he got me started at goalie,” said Henning.
The friendship endured into high school, and after their time together on a club team in middle school, they spent their first two years together at Creekview High School in Canton, Georgia.
Montreat College junior Kate Gauntlett winds up at the attack position for the Cavaliers in a 19-18 victory over Truett McConnell earlier this season. Photo courtesy of Chris Smith
Following her sophomore year, Henning then transferred out-of-district to the state’s North Forsyth High School, where she continued to play goalie. The pair remained close and periodically attended each other’s games in their final two years of high school. “We even were at each other’s proms,” said Henning.
Gauntlett and Henning ultimately went away to different colleges – Henning to play goalie and study criminal justice at Brevard College just south of Asheville and Gauntlett across the country to play at the PAC-12’s Arizona State. Inevitably, the distance impacted their friendship as they pursued college lacrosse on opposite sides of the country.
“Arizona State was just so different – it wasn’t a bad different – but I missed southern hospitality, and I was glad to get back to that,” said Gauntlett.
Their mothers were also close friends, so when Henning’s mom told Kate’s about Carlie’s pending move to Montreat, Kate’s mom suggested looking into the idea as well.
Gauntlett, when considering transferring, was initially focused on majoring in naval architecture but didn’t want to essentially restart her college career to pursue studies in the field. “I didn’t want to go back to school for four more years,” said Gauntlett. She opted instead for pursuing a degree in business administration at Montreat.
She has two primary paths in mind – entering the Coast Guard and pursuing admittance to its Officer Candidate School or working immediately in some capacity in the maritime industry following college. Whatever path she chooses, she knows she’ll be on the water. “We live on Lake Lanier, and my backyard is the lake,” said Gauntlett. Her family bought the lake house when Kate was in high school and later moved permanently to Dawsonville. “My dad loves the water; it kind of all came from him – the love of water.”
Henning is double majoring in cybersecurity and criminal justice at Montreat. Her impetus for transferring was adding a cybersecurity minor there, but upon arrival took on the ambitious task of adding it as a second major.
“I really love criminal justice, and if I can use them together, that would be amazing. Having both majors gets me closer to my goal,” said Henning, adding, “My dream is ultimately to go Homeland [Security], and potentially going into the military first and then to Homeland.”
Henning is also quickly making a name for herself within the NAIA, beyond the IWLCA honor. She has started every game for the Cavaliers, owns a 5-4 mark, and is fourth in the NAIA with 82 saves. She’s also held three separate opponents at bay with a slim one-goal lead in the game’s final moments to help Montreat to a trio of crucial victories.
Henning’s parents had very different reactions upon hearing of her winning the national defensive player of the week honor.
“My mom played sports all through her life, so she said, ‘Alright, that’s awesome, but get better.’ My dad plastered it everywhere,” said Henning. “They’re both excited for me, but they felt, ‘You’ve got this award, but don’t get a big head. You got it because God gave you the ability to play hard. Keep going out there, showing what you’ve got, and playing for Him.”
Dawsonville, Georgia native Carlie Henning found her lacrosse home with the program at Montreat College. Photo courtesy of Chris Smith
Both have found a home in the mountains despite coming from a town that sits aside a lake.
“It honestly was just refreshing. The team was very kind and welcoming, and I get to play lacrosse with my best friend every day,” said Gauntlett. “That’s awesome. I really like the small town [of Black Mountain] because I come from one. It makes me feel like I’m home, and it’s my home away from home.”
The two clearly share a passion for lacrosse, which they now indulge together daily on Montreat’s field sitting among the pines at the end of Vance Avenue in Black Mountain. They also have found fertile waters nearby for their other passion: fishing. Montreat’s campus overlooks Lake Susan, home to a year-round trout population, and the surrounding Swannanoa Valley abounds with places to wet a line.
“I’m hoping to get a fly reel for my birthday. I was sick of catching catfish in Arizona, and it puts me by the water and in the water when I’m fly fishing. It’s just so relaxing; I could drop a line in 100 times and not catch anything and still enjoy my day just as if I had caught 200 fish. That’s my happy place,” said Gauntlett.
Tom Flynn is the head women’s lacrosse coach at Montreat and a journalist with contributions to the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Washington Post, and Forbes.