Syracuse head coach Paul Flanagan doesn’t want to be the only person providing instruction to his team. He doesn’t want the teaching to come solely from his coaching staff, either.

Instead, he hopes that his veteran players shoulder some of that responsibility, and two senior defenders are doing just that this season for the Orange.

“I’ve been with teams when you’ve had all underclassmen, or three or four freshmen,” Flanagan said. “To be able to have that leadership back there — it’s invaluable.”

Akane Hosoyamada, a redshirt senior captain, and senior Kailee Goodnough are key parts of a Syracuse defense that is tied for third best in the conference in goals allowed.

Goodnough leads the defense with six assists and Hosoyamada is third on the defense with 10 blocks. But both mean much more to the Orange (4-8-7, 3-2-3 College Hockey America), which will face Rochester Institute of Technology (7-8-3, 1-4-1) on Saturday at 7 p.m. at Tennity Ice Pavilion.

Although Hosoyamada is a more defensive-minded defender and Goodnough looks to score more often, both will provide veteran leadership on the ice.

“We’re always looking to improve as a team and as a defense,” Goodnough said. “If I can help do that by being a senior leader, I’m going to do it.”

With eight players new to the program this year, Hosoyamada and
Goodnough have taken it upon themselves to help the younger players, albeit through different styles.

Sophomore defender Larissa Martyniuk describes Goodnough’s leadership style as more vocal than Hosoyamada’s. Flanagan said she’s done a good job talking in practice.

Hosoyamada feels obligated as the team member with the most experience to lead by example and calls it her “most important” role for the team.

Martyniuk said the senior is a more traditional defender, while Goodnough is more offensive minded and likes to rush the net and get shots off, Martyniuk said.

“I think being a more defensive defender and her being more offensive, it just cancels out,” Hosoyamada said. “It makes us a really good pair. We both can pull players aside to help in our own ways.”

But their head coach said Syracuse has mainly benefitted from the pair’s leadership by example.

“When you see the veterans making good decisions with the puck, it makes our job easier as coaches because we’re primarily correcting younger players,” Flanagan said.

Understanding the game of hockey is something Flanagan said both have drastically improved upon since the early stages of their careers. He remembers both early in their careers trying to do too much defensively and coming up short.

Sometimes they were too tired or didn’t understand the game as well as they could have.

“There is a lot of youth,” said Goodnough. “Teaching and helping the younger players understand systems and where to be and at what times is a crucial role. We both try to do that.”

Published on December 4, 2014 at 12:33 am

Contact Liam: lpsull01@syr.edu