There were no indications, no signs or verbal commitments. As far as Syracuse head coach Ange Bradley was concerned, Lindsey Conrad was staying in Richmond.

The an athletics department official informed Bradley of the former Spiders players who had received NCAA releases to come to Syracuse. Conrad was on the list.

‘They told me Lindsey (Conrad), and that was a shock to me,’ Bradley said. ‘I had no idea.’

SU’s sophomore forward is a quiet enigma, Bradley said. But Conrad has played a key role in SU’s banner year.

In her first year playing in an Orange (17-1) uniform after redshirting as a transfer, Conrad ranks third in points (39) and goals (16), and is tied for 15th in the nation in points per game (2.17).

‘She’s very opinionated,’ said midfielder Lena Voelmle, who has been Conrad’s roommate since her freshman year at Richmond. ‘She’ll stick to her opinions no matter what other people think.’

On the field, Conrad fits into Syracuse’s high-powered offense perfectly.

‘Once we score, it just gets going,’ Conrad said.

She doesn’t tell her defenders which way she’ll turn or show signs when she’s ready to aim. Instead, Conrad reads her defenders steps and goes the other way, she said.

‘She’s tricky,’ Bradley said. ‘She’s very good at fooling a defender and putting it past them.’

During Friday’s game against Villanova, it was Conrad who crept from nowhere into a Wildcat’s sight. Conrad stole the ball at the top of Villanova’s arc and faced a one-on-one with Wildcats’ goalie Maura McCormick before making a split-second decision.

Conrad went left, was tripped by the goalkeeper’s stick from behind and tipped the ball into the cage while falling.

‘She’s skillful, because she can finish,’ Bradley said.

Then there’s Conrad’s level of consistency. Conrad is second in shots for SU with 71 behind her mentality to stick with a shot and shoot it, Bradley said.

The forward has a pair of crafty hands able to perform the stick-work needed to fool defenders, Bradley said. She has the speed – she’s one of the fastest women on the team – to break into the arc.

‘She is just so fast, and you can’t teach speed,’ Bradley said. ‘It’s just a natural talent. Either you have it or you don’t. I can’t take credit for coaching what she has.’

Conrad will smile and tell you what she thinks, forward Shelby Schraden said. She’s a mystery. She’s quiet. But on the turf, it all comes out – her speed, her hands. On the field, Conrad’s presence is known.

‘I definitely like scoring goals,’ she said. ‘Being a forward in college is much better, because you can look back and see what’s going on, but you still have the opportunity to score.’

Though Conrad is a ‘quiet leader,’ Schraden said, the reason Bradley recruited her in the first place at Richmond was that her opinion and stubborn nature help the entire team.

‘You get in a fight with her and you’re not going to win,’ Bradley said. ‘She’s just going to stand her ground and draw her line in the sand and that stubbornness and that confidence is what makes her a great player.’

edpaik@syr.edu

Published on October 28, 2008 at 12:00 pm