Syracuse has been a perennial power. The Orange has been ranked in the Top 10 since Aug. 28, 2008.

Yet under Ange Bradley, Syracuse has never claimed a national title. The 2013 Orange is prepared to take the next step, starting with a pair of games in the Asics Invitational in Hempstead, N.Y., against Quinnipiac on Friday at 2 p.m. and either Hofstra or La Salle on Sunday.

“We need to grow, we need to get our leadership to continue to develop,” Bradley said, “and take ownership and hold accountability to the standards of Syracuse (field) hockey that have been set before them.”

To get leadership to develop, Bradley has organized a “leadership team” within the roster. Back Laura Hahnefeldt and forward Lauren Brooks are the designated gameday captains. Back Anna Crumb and goalie Jess Jecko lead the team off the field, and newly transferred forward Kati Nearhouse is the team’s practice leader.

Taking ownership and holding accountability falls upon the older members of the team. Out of the 21 players, nine are freshmen, making it the job of the rest of the team to help the younger players with the transition to top-level Division I field hockey.

Seniors like Leonie Geyer are trying to lighten the burden on the underclassmen by engaging more with the freshmen in a hands-on approach. Even Geyer, the only unanimous all-Big East selection last season, has room to improve.

“I’m trying to talk much more on the field now, setting up the forwards because I’m in the midfield and I have to set them in the right lines,” Geyer said.

Geyer said the team is really young but has been making great strides in the preseason.

“They were here all summer, working on their stick skills and their athleticism,” Geyer said, “and I think they’re doing really well.”

Geyer mentioned helping the younger players with their technique, both during and after practices.

Sophomore forward Emma Russell echoes her sentiments.

“It’s challenging for us,” Russell said, “but we need to do it because the younger girls are going to have to do that next year.”

This ownership and accountability carries over to the practice field as well. But as Geyer points out, too much pressure may not be a good thing.

“I think in the first two weeks of preseason we put a bit too much pressure on ourselves, on the senior class,” Geyer said, “so we have to step back a little bit.”

Russell, though, sees it a different way from her teammate, and considers the pressure as more of a challenge.

“I wouldn’t necessarily call it pressure, I think we all know where we want to go and we all know that we want to get back to the final four,” Russell said, “It’s more just training harder and making sure we’re doing the right things to get us back there.”

The Orange will try to heed the words of Bradley as it journeys into unfamiliar territory. Syracuse enters the Atlantic Coast Conference in 2013, a conference that includes seven top 20 teams. Bradley looks forward to the benefits of a tough schedule.

Said Bradley: “I think it will help us learn to win the last game of the season.”

The national championship, that is.

Published on August 29, 2013 at 1:09 am

Contact Danny: dacuneo@syr.edu