CONWAY, S.C. - Abby Thorne's journey from The Land Down Under to the Grand Strand of South Carolina began long before she dreamed of coming to the United States to play intercollegiate lacrosse.  

It actually started on the lacrosse field at Loyola University in Maryland just after the turn of the millennium, while Thorne was just a toddler. 

As a player at Loyola, Coastal Carolina head coach Rachel Shuck Whitten was a teammate of Stacey Morlang, who coached Thorne's U19 Australian national team and played alongside her in the 2022 World Championships.  

"Stacey knew I wanted to get into coaching and reached out to Rachel, then we started the interview process," Thorne said. "I got a great sense for [the program] through the phone calls, and then when I came here, everything checked all my boxes.  

"I traveled down to the Carolinas as a player and fell in love with it. Since my sophomore year, I had talked about coming down to the Carolinas. This is exactly what I wanted."  

Thorne made her first trip to the Carolinas during her freshman season at Pitt, as the Panthers traveled to Chapel Hill for its first-ever ACC game. She later played at Clemson and Duke, deepening her love for the region.  

"The honor and privilege of coming over to the US at a Division I school, and then it being the ACC, as an international, was unreal," she said. "I was just grateful to be there.   

"I went in to have the experience of my life. I didn't really expect anything. I was going to work hard and not take anything for granted."  

Her mindset and determination earned her a starting spot on the first Pitt women's lacrosse team, which began play in 2022 after a full year of practice during the 2020-21 academic year.  

She started all 18 games during the inaugural season, ranking among the team leaders in ground balls and caused turnovers.   

"My class ended up being the strongest and most consistent players in the program," Thorne explained. "We had that year just to grind and develop our skills."  

Thorne closed her Pitt career with her name all over the record books, recording the most starts (68), third-most games played (68), and sitting in first in ground balls (92) and caused turnovers (54).  

Pitt head coach Emily Boissonneault first saw Thorne at the 2019 Women's Lacrosse U19 World Championship while coaching with Canada's U19 World Cup team. Thorne helped Australia win the bronze medal and captured Boissonneault's attention.  

"When I got back home, [Boissonneault] reached out to me and two weeks later I signed," Thorne said. "I was fortunate that Pitt was starting a team, and she needed people because I was super late to the recruiting process. I didn't realize I was going to a school as big as Pitt and all the awesome things that came with it. I just knew that I got to help start a program and build a legacy, and I am forever grateful."  

Thorne's legacy stretches from the Steel City to the Southern Hemisphere, where she first fell in love with the game as a member of the Brighton Lacrosse Club in South Australia.   

Although she didn't start playing until the age of 11 or 12, it didn't take her long to ascend to one of the best players in the country, earning a spot on the U15 national development team and eventually being selected to the U18 and U19 Australian national teams.   

"My first Junior World Cup, that's when I knew I wanted lacrosse to be my life," Thorne said. "We did a training camp at Loyola, and it was amazing. I knew that lacrosse was going to be a big part of my life."  

Thorne returned to Maryland in 2022 as a member of the Australian women's national lacrosse team for the World Lacrosse Women's Championship in Towson. She played in the World Games for a second time this past summer, leading the green and gold to a bronze medal with the hopes of landing a spot on the Olympic team in 2028.  

The sport was approved for the first time to be included in the official program of the Games of the XXXIV Olympiad in Los Angeles. Only six teams will qualify to compete.  

"Winning the bronze medal was a big step for us," she said. "We are starting to build our resume now to be able to qualify for the Olympics.  

"This past World Games, I felt more comfortable using my voice, with this being my second experience at a senior level. I've got to stay in it, stay fit and ready for the next team."  

In the meantime, Thorne will be using her voice to instruct the next wave of Chanticleer lacrosse players.   

After a year at Pitt, she realized she wanted to use that voice to coach.  

"My last year and a half, I felt like I took on a coaching role," she said. "After my first two years, I was getting into a leadership role and figuring out my style. In my last year, I felt like I was a part of the decision-making process and helped the coaches as much as I could.  

"I love lacrosse. I study the game constantly. I love watching film."  

It's not the love of the game that drives her to coach, but the difference she can make in the lives of the players she coaches.  

"Seeing the impact I can make, helping the girls refine their skills, and seeing that impact," Thorne stated. "There's always that ah-ha moment when something clicks. It's very exciting for me to give them that moment."