Lauren Brooks comes from a family of athletes. Her eldest sister Ashley went to Messiah College for basketball, while middle sister Kristen went to Shippensburg University for field hockey.

Lauren Brooks used to watch her sisters play field hockey when she was little. She observed them until she could finally grasp a stick and play herself.

“I really looked up to them,” Brooks said.

Kristen Brooks was the first of the children to play collegiate hockey. Lauren Brooks remembers playing field hockey in the backyard with her sister when they were younger.

While it may have taken some time, junior forward Lauren Brooks’ presence on the SU field hockey team is louder than words. She’s developed into the team’s leading scorer, tallying a hat trick against Kent State last weekend. She’ll lead No. 6 Syracuse (4-0) into its toughest games of the season on Friday when it hosts No. 7 Massachusetts at 3 p.m. and on Sunday when it hosts Ohio State at 2 p.m at J.S. Coyne Stadium.

Brooks aged and continued to develop her skills, blossoming into an elite field hockey player at Hempfield High School in Landisville, Pa. She finished her Black Knights career with 40 goals and 26 assists, captaining the team to an appearance in the state semifinals as a senior.

“It was really cool to work with a lot of girls that I had played sports with all the way up the years,” Brooks said.

Brooks slowly built up her confidence at the Division I level. After scoring just four goals in her freshman campaign, she exploded for 12 goals last season.

It was all part of the adjustment period that exists when a high school player makes a jump to major Division I field hockey.

“I think just the speed of the game is so much faster at the college level,” Brooks said, “and once you adjust to that it’s a lot better. You can produce a lot more goals.”

And produce she has. Dating back to the beginning of last season, Brooks has scored 18 goals in her last 26 games. She notched her first career hat trick in SU’s most recent game against Kent State.

Brooks attributes that to her relentless attitude on the field, saying she’ll do “whatever it takes to put the ball in the cage”.

Head coach Ange Bradley can attest to that.

“She’s always putting herself out there and doing whatever it takes to get that ball across the line,” Bradley said.

Bradley alluded to the “score or die” attitude of her forwards that Louisville head coach Justine Sowry spoke of when referring to Brooks and the offense. While Bradley believes Brooks embodies the “score or die” spirit, she doesn’t show it verbally.

“She’s a quiet competitor,” Bradley said. “She speaks softly and carries a big stick. You don’t notice her and then all of a sudden she’s the one that’s finishing for you.”

While Brooks may be tenacious on the field, off the field she cares just as much about her players as anything. She’s built a strong camaraderie with the players who she captained to a state semifinal appearance in high school.

“I think I truly care about my teammates as teammates and as people,” Brooks said. “I’m not just concerned about them on the field, but them off the field as well.”

But the focus is still on winning. Brooks’ favorite moment while playing for Syracuse is making the final four last fall.

Key players such as Brooks will be crucial to Syracuse returning to the final four. Brooks still remembers the elation last season when the Orange defeated Penn State.

“We were just all riled up because we hadn’t made it there since 2008,” Brooks said.

It will be the play of upperclassmen such as Brooks that may determine if the Orange can get back to the final four in 2013.

Published on September 12, 2013 at 12:58 am

Contact Danny: dacuneo@syr.edu