On the first day of preseason, Syracuse women’s soccer coach Pat Farmer preached to the freshman class, among them forward Megan Bellingham, that she is only a freshman for one week; then she is like any other member of the team. He makes the girls do drills with players in different class years so that they all see each other as equals.

‘Coach Farmer always tells us to be ready to play,’ Bellingham said. ‘But I was a little scared to go in because I didn’t want to bring down the level of play.’

Bellingham did just the opposite by scoring off a pass from her roommate, Dana Bergstrom, in the 79th minute against Michigan State last weekend, to bring the Orange within one goal.

Farmer knows that when the Orange gets on the field Friday to face Fairleigh Dickinson at 7 p.m., and Sunday to take on Rhode Island at 1 p.m. in the two home games, none of the girls will have class standing in mind.

‘I had a freshman that had to kick the 10th penalty kick to win a national title (at Ithaca),’ Farmer said. ‘If the team was calling her ‘freshman’ all year and disrespecting her, I don’t think she would have responded as well and scored under the pressure.’

When Bellingham scored her first career goal Sept. 2 during the Michigan State game, it was only her second colligate appearance on the soccer field, but she was the only player from the Orange to score.

As women’s soccer continues to gain popularity, more opportunities to play at a younger age are available through youth leagues, club teams and Olympic Development leagues. Farmer said that most of the younger girls in this sport are more experienced than some of the seniors on the team because they have had more chances to touch a ball.

Senior Lauren Jentzen always welcomes the new players and sees them as equals from the first day of practice.

‘When coach recruits players he knows they will fit in, and if the girls come ready to talk, it’s even easier,’ Jentzen said. ‘All the incoming girls have great personalities. Most of us are all friends already, and we are working on our chemistry passing the ball.’

Farmer saw no need to talk about the past or the seniors that graduated because he has such confidence in his new team. Bellingham, Bergstrom and Kaitlin Robbins were among the forwards he mentioned that will help the team score more goals than they did last season.

‘All three of those girls are historically good scorers in their club and high school teams,’ Farmer said. ‘But they are all sort of different, too: Bellingham is a very powerful center-forward, Robbins is a very technical center-forward and Bergstrom is a very hard midfielder with a left-footed shot that can take corner kicks.’

This weekend’s games will be the first chance the girls get to play at home this season as they try to improve SU’s 1-1-0 record. After Sunday’s game, there will be a free poster signing, and the team – freshmen included – will get an introduction to the SU fan base.

‘All the girls are a part of the same team,’ Farmer said. ‘They can be a freshman on campus or in the locker room, but out here they are all the same. The best people play regardless of class, and that’s the philosophy I’m keeping.’

Published on September 6, 2007 at 12:00 pm