ITHACA, N.Y. -- The alarm hits before sunrise, and Jane McNally is up - goalie bag by the door, laptop still open from a late story edit. She's in the crease at Marsha Dodson Field, seeing the opposing offense unfold in front of her before the morning fog burns off. By 10 p.m., she's in a different rink entirely: the Lynah press box, transcribing notes and quotes — tracking line changes and storylines with the same calm eyes.

"I joke that I have two full-time jobs," she said. "But they're both things I love, so it never feels like work."

That balance - discipline on one field, storytelling on another - started long before she reached Cornell.

McNally, the senior goalkeeper for Cornell field hockey and the Cornell Daily Sun's four-year beat writer for the men's ice hockey team, grew up a few blocks from the Long Island Sound in Larchmont, N.Y., the youngest by nearly a generation - 8, 11 and 14 years behind three older siblings. Her mom ran private equity, her dad ran the household. New York City was a quick train ride, Rangers tickets became ritual and somewhere between Shea Stadium and Madison Square Garden, sports turned into a language she could speak (and write) fluently, starting with little stories on an iMac.

"My family are huge sports fans," McNally said. "When people ask what TV shows I watch, I just say hockey."

The other hockey - that came later. McNally didn't play the sport until seventh grade, didn't play regularly in goal until eighth and didn't start for powerhouse Mamaroneck HS varsity until senior year. Recruiting should've been over by then, but it wasn't for her. She led Mamaroneck HS to the state semifinals, then made an indoor travel team and was off and running. After applying to colleges in the fall not expecting to continue her career past graduation, she then circled back in the spring with coaches at the colleges that had NCAA field hockey. McNally sent four emails, including one to Cornell head coach Andy Smith. She'd be a practice goalkeeper if need be.

"I just wanted to stay in the game."

Smith answered within the hour. He had temporarily lost a goalkeeper and needed some depth at the position. It was February of her senior year, and Smith quickly had her make the four-hour trip to campus. She left with an offer. The door had been cracked, and despite some reservations from spending a random grey winter day on the sprawling campus, she realized she couldn't pass on the opportunity. 

Her first semester was hard - physically, socially and academically. Lift, film, double sessions, class, rinse, repeat. It took her a while to find her footing. Doubt about whether she would be able to find her place crept in. But late in the semester, as the field hockey season was winding down, McNally made a decision that kickstarted her journalism career. 

She joined the staff at the Cornell Daily Sun.

The newsroom quickly became her second locker room. "It's the same kind of team environment," she said. "You're up late, you're grinding, you're working toward something."

McNally started on the men's ice hockey beat as a first-year and later rose to sports editor. Before long, she became the byline Cornell fans sought when the puck dropped through NCAA runs and late-night thrillers. 

"The Michigan State game last year - Cornell scored with 10 seconds left to win - I'll never forget that one," she said. "I was the only Cornell reporter there, surrounded by stunned Michigan State writers. It was wild."

Smith, the seventh-year head coach of Big Red field hockey, allowed McNally to miss spring games because of her obligations to cover NCAA Tournament ice hockey - multiple times - and has been supportive of her unique career path.

"He's always like, 'you go to that - that's so much more important for your professional development.' He's always been really supportive of me. I think he thinks it's cool that I have such a different aspiration than other people he's coached, and that I find the time to do this despite all the demands of sports. Not many coaches would have been confident I would be able to do both."

Back on the turf, patience paid off. Though she had relegated the idea of significant playing time to someone else's story, the opportunity to earn the starting job presented itself this fall. The story felt familiar. Like in high school, after biding time behind all-league keepers, the crease became hers in her final collegiate season and her new tale began.

The assistant captain has authored wins - lots of them, in fact. Ten in all, two off the school record, including twice indoors at Barton Hall and a shutout of nationally-ranked Yale to christen the new Marsha Dodson Field. McNally has the team on the precipice of a spot in the Ivy League Tournament for the second time in three seasons. Her name popped onto national leaderboards in goalie win percentage and goals against average. 

McNally doesn't lead with numbers, though she's good with them both practically, and in an All-Ivy League type of way. McNally has started all 14 of the team's games, posting three shutouts, a 1.62 goals-against average and a .680 save percentage - more than 740 minutes in goal this season after just 39 in her first three years.

Smith's confidence was unsurprising, as McNally holds many confidences at once: the athlete who knows injuries and lineups she won't print, the reporter who earns trust by getting it right and knowing when to use (and not use) what she knows. A completely different kind of confidence allows her to tell an impactful story, or to save a penalty stroke 1-on-1. 

Because of field hockey and her time at the Sun, Cornell did, in fact, become "her place." And somewhere between 6 a.m. zombie workouts and midnight gamers, McNally made a life she'll be proud to read back many years from now.