And if her fiery-red hair doesn’t help her stick out with the Big Green, then her play on the field certainly will.

Maja Desmond was thrown into the fire on May 8, 2018.

After one of the starters of the Wellesley High girls lacrosse team went down with an injury in the second half of a game against Walpole, the then high school freshman was inserted.

“My coach was looking up and down the bench and eventually shouted my name,” recalled Desmond, now 17. “I quickly gathered my equipment and, immediately, butterflies swarmed inside my stomach.”

Right after entering play, the Raiders got the ball down in their own end and Desmond flew to the other side of the field and zipped a shot into the back of Walpole’s net. Soon after, she scored for a second time and also added an assist.

“It was as if she had just come out to get a drink of water and hopped back into the game,” said former Wellesley High girls lacrosse coach Michelle Cook. “It was one of those moments where you’re like, this was a great decision to throw her in.”

From that moment, the girl whose red hair matches her aggressive play style, Desmond never pumped the brakes as she proceeded to start every game at midfield. The next season, she led Wellesley in goals with 64 while putting together 10 assists, 40 ground balls, 84 draw controls and 25 caused turnovers as the Raiders went 18-5. She was named to the Eastern Massachusetts Girls Lacrosse Coaches Association (EMGLCA) second team and received Bay State Conference All-Star honors. She also was named a Daily News All-Star.

Despite missing out on her junior season due to COVID-19 pandemic cancellations, Desmond is committed to play Division I lacrosse at Dartmouth College, where she’ll be dawning her favorite color after she graduates from Wellesley High.

PHOTO: Wellesley’s Maja Desmond poses for a picture with her lacrosse stick

Got a story dropping tomorrow for@MetroWestSports on senior Maja Desmond. The@wellesleysports lax star will hopefully play out her final year in@Raiders_Glax colors before heading to Div. I Dartmouth College and, maybe add another state title to the resume with@raidersgpuckpic.twitter.com/WtYMADknKh

— Liam Gambon (@GambonLiam)October 2, 2020

“I have been obsessed with the color green since I was a child,” Desmond said. Dartmouth College’s colors are green and white.

Both of Desmond’s parents played sports in college.

Her father Ned, who grew up in New Jersey, played hockey at the Hotchkiss School in Connecticut before playing Division I hockey at Dartmouth College and was drafted with the 53rd pick in the third round of the 1985 NHL Draft by the St. Louis Blues.

However, in February of his sophomore year with the Big Green at Dartmouth, Ned suffered a serious right knee injury and then tore more cartilage in the same knee two years later, which ended his hockey career. But luckily for him, his daughter is fond of the sport.

Desmond was put on skates when she was 5 years old, and after playing with multiple teams and in her backyard rink growing up, she is now a back-to-back Div. 2 state champion as a defenseman on the Wellesley High girls hockey team.

“I learned how to skate before I could even read,” Desmond said. “From then on, hockey was a huge part of my life and I dedicated all of my fall and winter to the sport.”

“I love hockey and always wanted my children to play it, but if hockey wasn’t for them, that was okay, too,” her father said. “I just really wanted them to learn how to skate and not look back when they were older and wish they had tried to play, but never did.”

Desmond’s mother, Kristina, was an All-American high school lacrosse player in Connecticut and was a four-year All-Patriot League player at Division I Bucknell University. When Desmond was in third grade, her mother signed her up for lacrosse and after not being a fan of the sport initially, Desmond eventually fell in love with lacrosse and it’s led her to become a future Division I lacrosse player like her mother.

“As a former college player, I was looking forward to teaching my kids the sport that gave me so much,” her mother said. “As a youth player, Maja did not love lacrosse. But she stuck with it.”

After sticking out as a freshman on the Wellesley High girls lacrosse team, Maja Desmond is now set to play for four more years at Dartmouth.

And if her fiery-red hair doesn’t help her stick out with the Big Green, her play on the field certainly will.