There are no telltale signs, especially statistically, that indicate Syracuse field hockey goalie Betsy Wagner has made major leaps and bounds compared to her junior outing in 2003.

The field hockey team’s captain recorded 87 saves with a .702 saves percentage while earning three shutouts last season. Just past midseason this year, Wagner has earned one shutout, tied her career record of 13 saves in one game and just recently earned Big East Defensive Player of the Week and Eastern College Athletic Conference Goalkeeper of the Week honors.

She also has been a key ingredient to the Orange’s undefeated record in Big East competition. No. 16 SU plans to extend its five-game winning streak in Saturday’s game at Massachusetts in Amherst, Mass., at 1 p.m.

But numbers don’t tell everything, and internal struggles rarely transpire to the casual observer. Wagner looks back at last year and remembers being overly excited and anxious. She felt the pressure of stepping in as a full-time starter once predecessor and All-American Audrey Latsko left.

This year, Wagner’s self-assurance has helped sharpen her already strong style of play, in which she doesn’t wait for forwards to attack the cage. She attacks them first and prevents goals.

‘There were a lot of nerves that I didn’t know quite how to handle in game situations as well as I do now,’ Wagner said. ‘As a goalie, a lot of it’s having to do with settling down and relaxing instead of being real up and pumped for the game.’

With a strong drive to succeed, it’s pretty hard for Wagner not to get psyched before a match. Playing soccer up until her high school years, Wagner’s roots are revealed through her slide-tackling plays.

‘I don’t know if you can be too competitive, but maybe too aggressive sometimes based on my competition,’ Wagner said. ‘I thrive on it. All goalies do. You thrive on the fact that if you get beat and you get scored on, you get pissed and don’t let another in.

‘It’s exciting to get the ball and you happen to take someone out in the process. But the main focus is getting the ball, clearing it out, and trying to stop the play before it even becomes a threat.’

Originally, soccer was her first love. But Wagner soon realized that her talent transcended more in field hockey. The SU defense is fortunate.

‘She’s a defender, but it’s like having another defensive back,’ senior Erin Fitzgerald said. ‘You know if a girl is coming with the ball, (Betsy) will come out and take the ball. She’ll even use her stick sometimes. She’s not a goalie who stays in the goal and just kicks it and just stops the ball. She gets the ball and creates plays for us, too.’

In a league like the Big East, forwards constantly shoot at the cage. But Wagner has guarded it like a zoo keeper.

‘We’ve been under attack in almost all the games we’ve played,’ SU head coach Kathleen Parker said. ‘Our defensive backs have been doing their part. Betsy is the goalkeeper, and she has been living up to her name.’

SU (5-4, 2-0 Big East) has also lived up to its name in the field hockey world after starting 1-4. Parker and players recall the weekend trip near the Great Lakes, where the Orange faced Michigan and Old Dominion. It served as the turning point to what has become a successful season. After handling tough competition, things suddenly clicked.

‘I look at someone on the field, and (I know) they’re thinking the same thing I am,’ senior defensive back Lindsay Kocher said. ‘We never sat down and said, ‘This is what we want to do. We need to do this.’ We already know.’

SU also knows that it has a chance to carry its winning streak into October with a win versus UMass (2-8).

‘Just knowing that we can play Michigan, we can play ODU, that gave us so much confidence that we go into every game and know that we can win,’ Wagner said. ‘We don’t just think we can win, but we know we can win.’

Published on September 30, 2004 at 12:00 pm