NCCS alum sparks Cardinals’ bench

By Michael Purtell

Plattsburgh State’s home in the North Country is a core of the school’s identity. When student athletes join campus from that home, it makes the connection that much stronger.

First-year Cardinal Bailee Lafountain is one of those local talents from the town of Mooers Forks, New York. After graduating from Northeastern Clinton Central School, Bailee joined women’s soccer to stay connected to her roots as a person and an athlete.

“It’s just really nice to be able to play at a college nearby where the local fans and friends who’ve been following me through high school can still come to my games and support Plattsburgh now,” Bailee said.

FAMILY

Bailee’s love of sports was in her blood as her family was always intertwined with sports. Her father, an athlete in his own time, coached multiple sports and raised each of his three children on the field and in the house. 

Bailee remembers being on the soccer pitch “as early as she could start.” She began on Mooers’ local teams, and once she was old enough to branch out, she started playing travel soccer for Queen City.

Bailee followed in her sister, Brinley’s, footsteps when it came to sport selection. At NCCS, Bailee earned multiple varsity roster spots on the soccer and basketball teams in eighth grade to play alongside her at-the-time senior sister.

“For as long as I can remember, our weekends were filled with just traveling for tournaments and just playing as much as we can,” Brinley said.

They were set up to play together in Brinley’s final sports season of her highschool career, but COVID-19 put an end to the season.

Now both Bailee and Brinley are Students at Plattsburgh together. Although Brinley has hung up the cleats to study for her graduate degree in speech pathology, she said she is “really happy” to see her sister continuing her athletic career.

NCCS

At NCCS, Bailee was an athlete without an equal. She competed in four sports and racked up awards in each one.

On the soccer team, she was a three-time team MVP, a two-time First Team All-Star, one-time Second Team All-Star and scored 100 points over a five-year career. 

On the hardwood, Bailee won two Section VII championships, two CVAC championships, two section championships, snagged two team MVPs, one League MVP, two First Team All-Stars, a Most Improved Player award and scored over 1,000 points.

On the softball diamond, Bailee won a sectional championship, won a team MVP, was a one-time First-Team all Star and earned a spot on the All-CVAC team.

She also took part in one of the school’s first flag football seasons, earning a sectional championship for the young program there.

To say Bailee is a decorated athlete would be an understatement.

“I really believe Bailee is one of the best athletes that Northeastern has seen,” said Tim Surprenant, NCCS girls soccer head coach. “When she puts her mind to it, she can accomplish anything in any sport.”

Accomplishing anything isn’t off the table, as Bailee is known for her stubbornness.

“She’s very persistent. She’s the type of person that is always going to get her way and she figures out how to solve all her problems,” Brinley said. “It’s a running joke in our family that once Bailee has her mind set on something, she’s gonna find her way to it.”

Often what Bailee wants is to compete, Brinley said. Bailee’s drive is what helped her grow to be such a stand-out athlete.

Bailee’s motor has also helped her rise to a reputation as a leader on her teams. 

“She is a leader, by example,” Surprenant said. “She will push herself to the point where she really doesn’t have anything left to give.”

The honesty with which Bailee competes is what helped her succeed in her role as a captain in her later years at NCCS.

“Everybody respects Bailee,” Surprenant said. “She’s always making good decisions and she never puts herself in a bad situation.”

Despite her success across the athletic spectrum, Bailee’s first love is soccer. Her love for the world’s game in part comes from a strong soccer culture at NCCS.

“The community around soccer at NCCS is amazing,” Bailee said. “It’s definitely something I will miss, but it was nice having that all throughout high school.”

Bailee’s connection to the program is deep. Even as a Cardinal, she finds time to visit the Cougars and watch the team’s soccer games.

“At the end of the day, sports are about the connections that you make,” Surprenant said. “Bailee continues that legacy.”

The NCCS Cougars love to return the favor as well, as another alumni of the program found their way to the Cardinals women’s soccer team from Bailee’s class, Laci Roberts. 

Surprenant and his team have visited the Field House soccer field multiple times already to support their alumni, and they plan to continue doing so.

“I think it creates excitement for the younger girls seeing that we have women from our school representing Plattsburgh State,” Surprenant said. “I have girls on my team right now who say ‘I want to follow Bailee and Laci’s footsteps.’”

CARDINALS

The women’s soccer team has multiple athletes who represent several Section VII and Section X high schools. Bailee and Laci represent NCCS, sophomore Lia Parker represents Saranac, junior Hannah Meyers represents Peru and junior Jill Bezio represents AuSable Valley.

The team makeup provides for an interesting team dynamic, forming new relationships on the same side of the ball.

“It’s nice to really meet girls that you might have known of, but not really known,” Bailee said. 

The local talent also contributes to the strength of the team, creating new competitions for roster spots and playing time.

“It’s definitely different from high school,” Bailee said. “But it’s just making me better. I get to work hard in practice trying to prove myself.”

As a Cardinal, Bailee has started building her college resume with her first collegiate points coming off two assists against Morrisville, Sept. 28. She played a season-high 40 minutes. For the first time, her name rang out over the Plattsburgh home field.

“It was an awesome feeling to have my name announced,” Bailee said.

Academically, Bailee is studying in the same undergraduate program her sister took at Plattsburgh, hoping to also join Plattsburgh’s speech pathology graduate program.

Bailee became interested in the career path when hearing stories about her sister’s clinic work in the communication sciences and disorders undergraduate program.

Only time will tell what Bailee’s Cardinal legacy will look like when it’s all said and done, but if her past is any indication, she’ll find success on the pitch at Plattsburgh State.