On Kaeli O’Connor’s third day in Austria competing, all because her friend’s teammate was too old for the event, she found herself pushing a teammate in a bobsled toward an icy drop she had two days to prepare for.

Her job was to push the small missile hard enough that it would skitter the 870 meters of frozen track in less than 55 seconds. In her only official run ever for the Junior World Championships — she said she went to the hospital before the second run for the stomach flu she could no longer grit out — O’Connor finished 10th of 12 teams.

The initial action had struck O’Connor as similar to the sled pushes she did at high school track practice. Years later, when she focused solely on lacrosse, she’d still be doing the sled pushes on recommendation from her offseason trainers.

That’s because, no matter the sport, O’Connor’s game has always been about raw power.

“She’s tenacious,” assistant coach Regy Thorpe said. “… Just a really strong girl.”

O’Connor’s brief foray into bobsled didn’t last, and now the junior defender is a key piece in the Syracuse (11-3, 4-1 Atlantic Coast) defense that’s kickstarted a four-game win streak. Her toughness has helped Syracuse control its games in the midfield and not allow opponent’s second chances, whether via her 11 caused turnovers or 21 groundballs, both of which are second best on the team. It’s especially important for the Orange to maintain its advantage of grabbing 52 percent of available groundballs because SU forces the same amount of turnovers as opponents and turns the ball over more.

“I always box out first,” O’Connor said of the key to getting a groundball, her specialty. “As soon as the ball hits the ground, you have to commit. If you hesitate for even a second, someone else is getting it.”

The aggression led to too many fouls early in the year, Thorpe said. But now she’s putting herself in better positions defensively to pick up groundballs cleanly, which is “a huge asset” because it allows the offense — ninth in the nation with 13.79 goals per game — more time to work.

The key to groundballs, players said, is boxing out to get a clean scoop at the ball, and O’Connor, at 5-foot-4, is one of the shortest defenders on the team and has that leverage. Both Thorpe and defender Brenna Rainone said both described her as “relentless.”

“She’s just very tough on the field with other teams,” fellow defender Brenna Rainone said. “… She’s really fun to play with.”

Two years ago in Maryland during a fall ball scrimmage, Thorpe noticed one of his players taking it upon herself to collect every groundball and clear it. Again and again, she picked it up and carried it out of the zone.

“’Wow,’” Thorpe said to himself. “She was probably a little lower on the depth chart (then), but then she sprung out of nowhere carrying it up.”

In the two years since, O’Connor has started every game. But now the coaching staff is asking O’Connor to not just clear, but attack past riders and potentially dish out man-up assists. She said she’s still uncomfortable doing it, especially in close games, and isn’t concentrating on offense.

That’s just how O’Connor, the daughter of two collegiate lacrosse players, grew up. She began playing defense young and never practiced shooting, opting for drills in stick skills and groundballs. Her two rough-housing brothers taught her to be rugged. She played football with them in middle school. The first word that comes to her mind when describing her style of play is “aggressive.”

“My mindset is I get (the groundballs) or I foul,” O’Connor said. “The 50-50 balls are the ones I like going for, and the ones I have to get it.”

Published on April 11, 2016 at 9:52 pm

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