Halle Majorana is always smiling.

She smiles when teammates make fun of her for not knowing a drill in practice.

She smiles at Syracuse’s 8 a.m. weight-lifting sessions.

She smiles when she tells a joke and her infectious laugh causes her teammates to too, even if they don’t think it’s funny.

“I definitely smile here a lot more,” said Majorana, who is in her first season at Syracuse.

Majorana transferred to No. 5 SU (5-1, 1-1 Atlantic Coast) over the summer after playing her freshman and sophomore years at Maryland, the defending national champion and Syracuse’s opponent on Saturday. When the two teams met in the national championship last season, Majorana didn’t play. The junior said she transferred for personal reasons and is much happier with the Orange than at UMD as she gains more playing time than she said she’s ever received.

And so far at SU, Majorana’s making the most of her second opportunity. After earning a spot on the starting attack, she’s put up 14 goals and 14 assists to rank fourth nationally in points as of Tuesday. Her 14 assists in six games match her total from last year over 20 games.

“She’s good left (hand), right (hand), good finisher, great feeder,” SU head coach Gary Gait said. “So she has kind of everything you need to be a standout player.”

The biggest difference between Syracuse and Maryland, Majorana said, is that Gait has encouraged her to embrace more creativity in her game. He tells his players to incorporate unique ways of passing the ball, including behind-the-back passes, and it’s resulted in Majorana having more fun on the field.

While learning a three-on-two drill in the fall, her teammates flipped the ball to each other instead of passing overhand. Majorana wasn’t used to it and her teammates sometimes made fun of her for not understanding — and now it’s one of her favorite drills.

The transformation from bench player at UMD to star attack at SU has been eye-catching, but Syracuse coaches and teammates knew the potential she could bring. ESPN Rise ranked Majorana the top attack and Inside Lacrosse rated her the class’ 14th-best freshman in the Class of 2012.

“That was a long time ago,” Majorana said.

Now, Majorana is only focused on Syracuse. She said it’ll be emotional when she plays her former team later this week, but she’s trying not to think about that too much.

Majorana said the transition to SU was smooth because of her teammates. They helped her find Grant Auditorium when she couldn’t last semester. They brought her to Goldstein Student Center where they would spend hours after practice. They accepted her silly personality and her singing during practice.

Part of the camaraderie was built in high school, when she played with Erica Bodt and Kelly Cross at the Vail Shootout in Colorado. She also played with Kayla Treanor at the Under Armour All-American Game. She is now one of 35 New York natives on SU’s roster, so she had no problem finding people that she already knew.

“She came in with just a great attitude about it. She knew that it was going to be hard and she would have to work to try to fit in,” Cross said. “… She has become a huge presence on the field and has just really stepped up her game.”

Majorana credits part of her improvement to Treanor. The two play at opposite sides of the field behind the goal and when Treanor draws a double team, Majorana is often open on the opposite side. Treanor has given advice to Majorana and helped her stay calm during games.

When Majorana gets asked about why she left Maryland, she doesn’t like to say much. But when she gets asked about coming to Syracuse, her go-to phrase is “second opportunity.”

“I’m definitely having more fun,” Majorana said. “… It’s very important not to put too much pressure on yourself and I really used to do that and now I’m going out and having fun every single game.”

Published on March 4, 2015 at 12:09 am

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