SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- By all accounts, this appears to be just another sports practice at Syracuse University. But look closer. These are the newest athletes at SU. The women's ice hockey team has begun its inaugural season on the hill. The man chosen to lead this group of trailblazers is Paul Flanagan, one of the most decorated coaches in women's hockey history. He didn't have much time to fill a roster.
"The process was difficult because that time of year, recruiting is pretty much done, so you're at kind of the mercy of the girls that are still out there and the girls that communicate or looked into transferring," said Flanagan.
That roster is full of those transfers perhaps looked over by many Division I programs. Some have local ties. Starting Goalie Lucy Schoedel is from Ithaca. Gabrielle Beaudry is from Cortland, while Katelyn Bero hails from Akwesasne. All three say there's no place like home.
"Best case scenario is it's here with the people I'm with and the coach that I'm with and it's close to home. So it all kinda’ worked out for me and I'm really, really grateful for that," said Schodel.
"I've been getting a lot of phone calls and emails from people back home telling me they're gonna’ try to make it to this game and that game and come down here to see us. It's not a hard trip at all. So I'm kind of excited we're gonna’ have hometown fans,” said Bero.
"When I was younger I probably wouldn't have thought about staying home. But from being away and having all those girls close to home, those little girls watching since you were younger. You get to give back. Hopefully I'll look back at this program in 20 years from now and say this is my community. That's a team I started," said Beaudry.
The Orange will play in the College Hockey America Conference, which features Mercyhurst, Robert Morris, Niagara and Wayne State. The young Orange are expected to endure some growing pains, but that's going to be part of the process.
"I don't want to set us up for failure thinking we're going to be popped every night here. But I think at the same time when we do have a tough night that our leadership. The older players, the vets on this team, are going to be an important part of our organization," Flanagan said.
"There's no expectations. We just have to go out and work hard everyday. If we lose or make a mistake, it's not a big deal. We just need to work hard, learn from our mistakes, and build for the future," Beaudry said.
Flanagan made his mark at St. Lawrence University, winning nearly 72 percent of his games over nine seasons. He built a powerhouse in Canton. So all this begs the question. Why leave,” asked Beaudry.
"I just think there were too many factors. It wasn't just, hey, here's a great contract or we have a beautiful rink here. It wasn't anything like that. It was a combination of factors that really made me think. I was probably getting itchy to see what was out there," the coach said.
Flanagan comes to Syracuse looking to turn the Orange into a perennial power. But that's exactly the situation he left at St. Lawrence, where he had taken them to five Final Fours during his tenure. Paul knows he wouldn't be here in Syracuse today if it wasn't for the folks up north.
A group of Syracuse University women are doing something no woman at SU has ever done before. We debut a new feature in which we go in-depth about a local sports story. In our inaugural "Beyond the Box Score", our Ryan McNaughton introduces us to these trendsetters.
"All the players that I had there have given me this opportunity. It's kind of funny; the kids that did such a good job for me as a coach now are giving me this opportunity. So I have a lot to be grateful for with St. Lawrence and all the players that came through our locker room there,"
Flanagan said.
So how did this team thrown together at the very last minute fare in game one? They took a Colgate team returning 18 letter winners down to the wire, losing 4-3 after jumping out to a quick 2-0 lead.
"I think they did a great job. We have a long way to go in certain areas and we recognize that and a lot of it is over fitness and training. We just haven't had a lot of time. Now there aren't anymore unknowns. We have a pretty good idea of things we have to work on. Where we have to go. That's a great start," said Flanagan.
So the Orange are off and running or should we say, skating. Their future is so bright, they gotta’ wear skates.
Friday night, the Orange lost at second-ranked Wisconsin 3-0. They're playing again in Madison Saturday. Their home opener is October 31st against Robert Morris.