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05/24/2024 02:46 AMA positive disposition and steady legs that never seem to slow down can take a player far in the sport of lacrosse. For Sydney Pitcher, she utilized both of those traits to demonstrate to her teammates that you always keep on keeping on no matter the numerous setbacks that come forth.
The North Haven senior first became involved in lacrosse around her junior high years in seventh grade while she also played field hockey for the Nighthawks. This campaign, Sydney stretched herself throughout the turf by serving as a midfielder and helping a young and budding North Haven girls’ lacrosse team finish the year on a very optimistic note with consecutive victories to close 2024 as she tallied 14 goals and eight assists on her season.
“For me, lacrosse was just really fun. A lot of my friends played it, and we just bonded together through playing it. I also like how it is a fast-moving sport and how it requires you to work as a team to be successful,” says Sydney. “I think I have become successful with lacrosse by just trying to not get so frustrated out there when things do not go my way. I also know that to succeed in lacrosse, you have to work really well with everybody.”
Sydney loves the dual threat she portrays by being a midfielder and functioning as a facilitator of the ball between the defenders and attack unit. She explains that pulling double duty may be draining on her legs at times, but it is more than worth it to help her colleagues succeed.
“With midfield, I like that you can play both offense and defense. I really like to run up and down the field,” says Sydney. “But also on the other side, running is the tough part of playing midfielder. There is a lot of running involved in a back and forth game when you have a lot of turnovers and you have to switch back. It is hard but a lot of fun at the same time.”
When Sydney boils it down to its basic nature, she knows the sport of lacrosse is nothing worth sulking over when adversity inevitably strikes. If there ever is a miscue that occurs under her watch, she swats away any negativity with a sharp but swift memory and distracting her mind from it.
“I just remind myself that this is all for fun and that is why I am doing it,” Sydney says. “I also just tell myself to keep going and that if I do make a mistake, make sure to not do it the next time, and I also do something to take my mind off of it.”
Sydney serves as a speedy scooper on the defensive end of her skill set. While she wants to sharpen her shot with the ball in her stick as she poaches the opposing net, she is someone who can push the offense forward following a takeaway.
“I definitely feel I am good at making quick pickups on ground balls. I also think I am good at running away from the defense and passing the ball quickly in transition when on defense,” says Sydney. “I have to get better on my shots by squaring up to the goaltender. I missed a few shot attempts for goals this year, and so I need to work on my aim.”
The Nighthawks saw many fresh faces that might have been a little shallow in the experience column. She denotes, though, that she dug deep both physically and verbally to make them feel comfortable in an atmosphere to accelerate their grasp of the game.
“This year on the team, we had so many new players and so many freshmen,” Sydney says. “So as a senior leader, I knew I had to have a positive attitude every day and play my best so that the girls looked up to me. The younger players made it easy for me to be a role model I feel.”
Other athletes could have easily backed it in halfway through the campaign Sydney and the Nighthawks endured record-wise. Yet she commended her club for never throwing in the white towel and persisting daily until the very end.
“We still put in a ton of effort this season despite not having that great of a record,” says Sydney. “Everyone on the team really put forth their best effort, and being rewarded at the end of the year with those two wins felt really good. We all stuck together as a team and stayed super positive every day.”
Head Coach Bernard Pellegrino explains that Sydney utilized her most critical physical assets as a strong speedster to prop the Nighthawks up to being one of the best on the draw for the SCC. As a leader, she was never feigned to speaking her mind and keeping her teammates going with her incredible encouragement and inspiration.
“Sydney uses her athleticism to her full advantage on the field, a blend of both strength and speed. She played on the circle for our draw team and was an important reason why we had one of the best draw control percentages in the conference,” says Pellegrino. “In the offensive zone, Syd has a nose for the cage. She was able to position herself inside for feeds that yielded close range shots on the goal. She was tenacious at the top of the arc in our zone defense. She used her size and speed to frustrate the opposition’s offensive point players. Utilizing her experience as a field hockey captain, Syd was an important part of our senior leadership group. She worked hard on the field, and her younger teammates took notice and tried to emulate her efforts. When necessary, she also played a vocal role in leading our team when the chips were down.”
Cohesiveness is something that goes well beyond the lacrosse field, Sydney surmises as she begins to look towards the future post-graduation. Still, she knows no matter what lies ahead, as long as she upholds the same attitude she had as a student-athlete, nothing is impossible in the professional world.
“Through playing lacrosse, and also field hockey, I learned the value of teamwork,” says Sydney. “I also learned the need to talk to others and how important it is to succeed as a team. Lacrosse also taught me a lot about perseverance, especially this past season, because we just stuck it out together and it was super fun.”