Midway through the first half of Syracuse’s game against Cornell, Loren Ziegler embraced teammate Devon Parker.

Ziegler had just finished streaking down the left alley next to the net and scoring her first goal of the game. Although the game was largely out of reach, Ziegler’s benefited from SU head coach Gary Gait giving her more playing time in the last few games.

“We’ve just been mixing it up,” Gait said, “we’re just looking for players to step up and give them a chance and make sure that we get to truly evaluate everybody.”

By Gait’s estimation, Ziegler, a senior, has played well. She registered the first multi-point game of her career against Cornell on Tuesday, scoring two goals. After playing a total of 20 games in the first three seasons of her career — tallying just four points during that time — she’s appeared in eight this year and has surpassed her scoring total from her first three seasons combined.

“It’s definitely awesome,” attack Halle Majorana said after No. 5 SU’s (8-2, 1-1 Atlantic Coast) 14-8 win over the Big Red (5-2, 2-0 Ivy) in the Carrier Dome. “… To see her getting time out there and making progress out there is just great.”

And for Ziegler, it’s been just that: progress. Her journey to quality playing time has been a winding one.

Before Ziegler even made her way to SU, she didn’t want to play lacrosse. She wanted to play soccer and before she visited SU, she was looking at Virginia and Boston College to play lacrosse.

A trip to the Carrier Dome in her sophomore year of high school helped persuade her. So did the fact that both her parents came to SU — her father Brent played on the football team as a fullback.

“I just remember walking in and being speechless,” Ziegler said. “Looking up and seeing how big it was and how amazing it was to just even walk on the turf and I could just imagine playing here.”

Since Ziegler’s come to SU, she’s seen little more than the bench. To keep herself motivated she took comfort in her role of making her teammates better by pushing them in practice. She continually worked on her dodging and her lacrosse IQ in hopes that she would see the field.

Even this season, Ziegler’s role on the team as primarily a backup changed only days before SU played Maryland on March 7.
Ziegler said Gait and the coaching staff told her she would be moved to the second line a day or two before the game, and she immediately went to work. The midfielder watched games Maryland had played last season and studied the scouting report the coaches gave their players.

“At first I was very nervous when they said to be ready,” Ziegler said. “My stomach dropped a little bit, but then my teammates, the coaches, everyone said they had confidence in me.”

Ziegler’s seen action in all four games since then. Less than three minutes into the second half of Tuesday’s contest, she took a check to the head inside the 8-meter arc and tumbled to the ground.

She tied her shoe, stood up and scored on her free-position shot. Teammates flocked to hug her. After Ziegler embraced SU attack Kayla Treanor, she broke into a smile.

“It’s a great feeling,” Ziegler said, “… It’s a little bit of seeing a good taste, so I just want to keep going and get some more for the next game.”

Published on March 17, 2015 at 10:38 pm

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