Eliza Bennett-Hattan was in the net for the fourth and most meaningful start of her career against No. 6 West Virginia on Sept. 22, but a red card forced the freshman off the field just 1:44 into the game. Bennett-Hattan didn’t think she did anything wrong when she collided with a Mountaineer player, but the referee saw it differently.

‘First, I was really frustrated because I felt like I finally earned the chance to play a big game,’ Bennett-Hattan said. ‘Then I left and I was sitting on the bench really upset and coach (Pat) Farmer said, ‘Sorry, not to add insult to injury, but you actually have to leave.”

Bennett-Hattan had to watch the rest of the game from behind a fence because she was not allowed to be with the team. As soon as she left the field, the Mountaineers lined up for a free kick and blasted it past junior Candice Hoffman for the first goal in a 5-0 victory.

The game was the low-point of Bennett-Hattan’s season, but less than two weeks later, Farmer named her the starting goalie for the Orange.

SU head coach Pat Farmer used three goalies for most of the season, refusing to name a starter until one keeper emerged from the pack. Along with Bennett-Hattan and Hoffman, freshman Sami Hirsh earned two starts this season.

Bennett-Hattan will start Friday against Providence at Glay Field and Sunday against Connecticut at Joseph J. Morrone Stadium. Farmer decided Tuesday the freshman showed him enough to name her the starter for the rest of the season.

‘I think it’s silly to name a starter just because you want one,’ Farmer said. ‘I also think when you’re comfortable with somebody, it’s disingenuous to the other two goalkeepers if we know we’re going to start Eliza but we don’t bother telling them.’

Bennett-Hattan has been the most consistent goalie for the Orange this season, limiting opponents to just eight goals in seven games. She earned three shutouts, including one in the team’s only win against Portland State on Sept. 10.

Bennett-Hattan only allowed two goals in the last three games and amassed a scoreless streak of 263:49 that was broken in Louisville on Sunday. Farmer said her performance in those three games helped separate Bennett-Hattan from the other goalies.

The freshman said she was not even aware of the streak until she read the game report online.

‘It’s not really about that for me,’ Bennett-Hattan said. ‘I don’t really think about those things. I think about the team’s outcome, not my own personal outcome.’

Farmer said naming a starter will help Bennett-Hattan because she will not have to look over her shoulder all the time. Most of the year has been like a tryout in practice, with each goalie fighting for playing time every day. Farmer said he didn’t want her to think if she didn’t perform well one day, she would lose her job.

But Bennett-Hattan said the three-goalie system didn’t bother her because the keepers pushed each other to succeed. She said when she wasn’t playing, it just inspired her to improve.

‘At first you would be frustrated but then you think you have to do something better,’ Bennett-Hattan said. ‘If they’re playing over you then you need to step up.’

Before Farmer named a starter, he tried to give all his goalies playing time with the first defense. Now Farmer said the other goalies will practice the same amount but not as much with the first unit.

‘It’d be like the football guys rotating quarterbacks,’ Farmer said. ‘They like to get their first quarterback more repetitions with the starting group.’

Published on October 4, 2006 at 12:00 pm