CNS field hockey’s Isabel Normanly is the ‘epitome’ of a 2-way player
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Isabel Normanly spotted the ball being dribbled in front of her. She dashed in front of her opponent, who’d lost control of the ball. Lunging her stick forward, Normanly forced the opponent to pause. She quickly pivoted the stick to scoop up the ball.
Wanting to make a score, she dribbled up the middle for a few seconds. Then, she parted to the right, dodging two defenders and slotting the ball into the bottom right corner of the net. For Pat Kennedy, Cicero-North Syracuse’s head field hockey coach, that play represents the impact that Normanly has on his C-NS squad.
“She’s definitely the epitome of the two-way player,” Kennedy said. “Very high-skills offensively, but also, she’s willing to play good defense. And she does.”
Normanly, a junior field hockey forward at C-NS High School, has played a major role in the Northstars’ success. As a sophomore last season, she led the team with 13 goals and scored 26 of the Northstars’ 62 points. Through seven games in 2026, she’s led C-NS to a 6-0-1 record with six goals and 15 points. Her goalscoring threat and ability to create turnovers make her a weapon on both sides of the ball.
Her performances pushed the team to a 10-4-1 record last year, slotting in as the No. 3 seed in the 2025 NYSPHSAA Section III Class A playoffs. Normanly scored three goals in the quarterfinals, leading C-NS to a 4-0 win over Auburn.
But in the semifinals against No. 2 seed Baldwinsville, offense was scarce in the 1-0 loss.
“Losing in the semifinals, right in the last couple seconds to Baldwinsville, was kind of a big eye-opener,” Kennedy said. “Because we’re used to always playing in the sectional finals or even further into state play.”
But the loss didn’t hinder the Northstars’ growth as a team. C-NS returns many of the same players, which helps it try to build off of last season’s playoff run.
“A lot of the kids on the team last year were new, or they were new as a starter in their position,” Kennedy said. “This year, the experience already shows, and they’re working very, very hard as a team to be a better team overall. So we’re very confident.”
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But Normanly might be one of the biggest reasons for Kennedy’s confidence. She received First Team All-League honors and was voted by her teammates as the Northstars’ best offensive player and team MVP. She earned national recognition as well, attending the Under-16 Junior U.S. Women’s National Team training camp between Dec. 5 and Dec. 7, 2025.
After attending the camp, Normanly played for the U16 Junior U.S. Women’s National Team and saw how she stacked up against the nation’s top high school field hockey prospects.
“If they’re here, I’m here, too, because we both deserve to be here,” Normanly said, reflecting on her experience. “I just had to stay composed and really not get in my head too much about the difference in skill level. Because if we’re all here, they all saw something in all of us.”
Her rapid rise belies her late start to the sport. Normanly didn’t play field hockey until the summer before seventh grade. She’d previously done competitive Irish dance, basketball and lacrosse, but she wanted to give the sport a chance.
That summer before seventh grade, there was a free camp near Normanly, three days a week at 8 a.m. Normanly’s mother, Christy Palumbo, said she had no prior knowledge of the sport, and she still remembers her first thought when her daughter approached her about it.
“If this kid’s willing to get up at eight in the morning, three days a week, then she must really, really want to play.”
Normanly honed her skills at the camp and tried out for C-NS’ field hockey team soon after. In 2023, she made the squad as an eighth grader, joining C-NS on the heels of the Northstars’ 2-1 overtime loss to Northport in the 2022 NYSPHSAA State Championship.
A few games into the 2023 season, she earned reps as a forward. Trusting Normanly’s game sense and on-field presence, Kennedy officially made her a starter after a few games. She rewarded his faith with five points, and the next season, she upped her production to seven assists and 13 points.
“She’s somebody that’s always striving to get better, either as an individual and as a teammate,” Kennedy said. “She’s always working to make her teammates better.”
Palumbo believes that competitive attitude was something she instilled in Normanly from a young age. From competitive ping-pong matches with her family and competing in sports with her sister, Sofia Normanly, Normanly learned a virtue she’s carried with her ever since.
“I really think that it’s just in her,” Palumbo said. “She just wants to be the best.”
The activity didn’t matter — Normanly wanted to try them all. She got involved with Irish dance in kindergarten and played the saxophone in fourth grade, while Sophia did competitive gymnastics and golf.
That encouragement to try new things has opened doors for Normanly, both on and off the field. Normanly and her mother hope she can play field hockey in college and want to find a school that can set her up for future success. Harvard, Cornell and Dartmouth have reached out to Normanly and her family, but it’s still early.
Palumbo knows her daughter has a long way to go before that. Her sights are set elsewhere.
“I want her to be able to say, with all her heart, that she had a good experience and did the best she could,” Palumbo said.
