Spring Break
The Daily OrangeFH | Goalkeeper Hess provides consistent presence for SU
By Edward Paik
Posted: 9/4/08, 11:41 PM EST Section: Sports
With the pressing weight of pads over her shoulders, Heather Hess stood below the rail of her post at J.S. Coyne Stadium during spring training, unsure of what to do.
The shots would come, the goalkeeper said, but she couldn't react. Split-second decisions, a new coaching system, a starting job in question - it was all in her head.
And it all caught up.
"I wasn't used to it. Over-thinking," Hess said. "Then I got frustrated."
The goalkeeper couldn't relax as she couldn't let the thoughts pass by. When instinct should have taken over, thoughts blanked reason. The tension shut her down. But staring at the backs of 10 teammates during practice last semester, she told herself something.
Let's start over.
With a lineup that looks different this season from Hess's steel enforced visor - the backfield has changed, the midfield is younger - the goalkeeper who began at Warwick Middle School walked away with a shutout against then-No. 8 Old Dominion.
As No. 18 Syracuse travels to Michigan to face Central Michigan today at 3 p.m., then No. 10 Michigan State Sunday at noon, Hess wants that shutout streak to continue. (She has two shutout halves in her first two games.)
Though Hess had six shutouts last season, conflicting thoughts mounted against her confidence.
"Everyone has their bad days," she said, "but the confidence thing with me has always been an issue."
Her self-appointed expectations hadn't changed: she still had to block every shot, but there wasn't the competitiveness from when she first saw Shannon Hess, her older sister, began playing the game before her. There wasn't that motivation and aid she received from her father, Mike Hess, who also coached her in youth softball.
"I had to stop thinking and just remember to do what I came here to do," Heather Hess reminded herself. "Have fun."
Alone in the backfield, Heather Hess is the team's eyes.
"She's a big voice back there for the backfielders," said Heather Doran, a senior who began playing the position since her junior year. "That just trickles through the whole team. The backfielders talk to the midfielders, the mids to the forward. Every game, every practice."
The shots would come, the goalkeeper said, but she couldn't react. Split-second decisions, a new coaching system, a starting job in question - it was all in her head.
And it all caught up.
"I wasn't used to it. Over-thinking," Hess said. "Then I got frustrated."
The goalkeeper couldn't relax as she couldn't let the thoughts pass by. When instinct should have taken over, thoughts blanked reason. The tension shut her down. But staring at the backs of 10 teammates during practice last semester, she told herself something.
Let's start over.
With a lineup that looks different this season from Hess's steel enforced visor - the backfield has changed, the midfield is younger - the goalkeeper who began at Warwick Middle School walked away with a shutout against then-No. 8 Old Dominion.
As No. 18 Syracuse travels to Michigan to face Central Michigan today at 3 p.m., then No. 10 Michigan State Sunday at noon, Hess wants that shutout streak to continue. (She has two shutout halves in her first two games.)
Though Hess had six shutouts last season, conflicting thoughts mounted against her confidence.
"Everyone has their bad days," she said, "but the confidence thing with me has always been an issue."
Her self-appointed expectations hadn't changed: she still had to block every shot, but there wasn't the competitiveness from when she first saw Shannon Hess, her older sister, began playing the game before her. There wasn't that motivation and aid she received from her father, Mike Hess, who also coached her in youth softball.
"I had to stop thinking and just remember to do what I came here to do," Heather Hess reminded herself. "Have fun."
Alone in the backfield, Heather Hess is the team's eyes.
"She's a big voice back there for the backfielders," said Heather Doran, a senior who began playing the position since her junior year. "That just trickles through the whole team. The backfielders talk to the midfielders, the mids to the forward. Every game, every practice."
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