Call her Chuddy.

‘I’m just not used to saying ‘Becky,’ ‘ Kristin Aronowicz said.

That’s because Aronowicz, like everyone else, calls Becky Kohler by the moniker the fifth-year senior has had since high school.

Kohler, who will play her final regular-season games at William and Mary tonight at 7 and at Richmond on Sunday at 1 p.m., earned the nickname from her assistant high school field hockey coach, Kelly Harbaugh.

‘It didn’t come out of one particular event,’ Harbaugh said. ‘It’s a term of endearment. She’s Chuds and always will be Chuds in my mind.’

In late September of Kohler’s freshman year at Syracuse, Harbaugh sent a birthday card addressed to ‘Chuddy Kohler.’ Teammates immediately picked up where Harbaugh had left off.

‘At first they just did it to joke around,’ Kohler said. ‘After a while, it just stuck. Now everyone calls me that.’

That wasn’t the only thing that followed Kohler to Syracuse.

‘I love Star Wars,’ Kohler said. ‘I get made fun of because it’s not really a girly type of thing. I’m fascinated with the plot. My room is covered in Star Wars posters.’

Yoda, Kohler’s favorite character, resembles her in many ways.

‘I’m a blunt person,’ Kohler said. ‘I won’t lie to spare feelings.’

‘She’s a straight-shooter,’ her mother, Sandra, said. ‘She always tells it like it is, right between the eyes.’

Kohler started playing field hockey in seventh grade – as a goalie. Feeling confined, she requested a position change following the season.

‘She couldn’t stand still that long,’ Sandra said.

Instead, Kohler moved to forward, where she led Palmyra (Pa.) High in scoring her junior year with 14 goals and five assists.

But things got off to a rough start at Syracuse.

During a preseason practice her freshman year, Kohler shattered her left index finger when it was sandwiched between the ball and her stick.

Forced to redshirt that year, Kohler’s confidence dipped. She only played three games the following year, mustering a single shot.

‘You come in as a freshman and all of my freshman year I didn’t play,’ Kohler said. ‘I didn’t have that whole season to work out the low self-esteem.’

But Kohler made strides her sophomore year, scoring three goals. She was named the team’s most improved player.

With Syracuse thin on defense the following year, Kohler shifted to back, where she helped the defense to the lowest goals-against average (1.24) in the Big East.

‘We play spring tournaments, we play 7-on-7 on one side,’ coach Kathleen Parker said. ‘She assumed more of a roll of a defender than attacker. We decided that’s where we could use her best.’

Opposing coaches took notice, and Kohler was named 2002 preseason Big East Defensive Player of the Year.

‘She’s always the one to chase down the ball,’ teammate Missy Grosman said. ‘That motivates me. She’s constantly a presence on the field.’

But Kohler isn’t done yet. With two games left and her final playoffs set to begin, Kohler wants to end on a positive note.

‘We’re finally on a high,’ Kohler said. ‘There has been so many ups and downs this season. The downs really got to me and a bunch of us on the team, but we’re finally ready.’

Published on October 31, 2002 at 12:00 pm