It started in the early mornings of February.

SU senior goalkeeper Robert Cavicchia would practice with the men’s soccer team and then head to class. He could’ve been content with his early morning workout and call it a day.

But he wasn’t.

He would hit the treadmill for some extra cardio. He would do extra training sessions with SU assistant coach Jaro Zawislan and work with redshirt freshman goalie Christian Iordanou on the weekends to get in the best possible shape for the upcoming season.

Behind an enhanced and revamped workout and dietary change that focused on making him lighter and quicker, Cavicchia is enjoying his best season at SU and has been integral to SU’s strong start to the 2008 season. Just named Big East goalkeeper of the week (the first SU player to earn the honor in more than five years), he has recorded seven shutouts this season, the most since 1994.

‘I feel so much more explosive, so much quicker,’ Cavicchia said. ‘I’m getting out to more crosses that I couldn’t get out to before, and it helps me with my own confidence too to get out there, and I’m fit enough to do that, and my play has been better because of it.’

Cavicchia has played all 970-plus minutes for the Orange (5-3-2) this season and has 0.46 goals against average, yielding only five goals. He is second in the Big East in saves and fifth in goals against average and save percentage. He is 11th nationally in goals against average through Sunday.

Cavicchia credits his offseason workouts and dietary change for his improved performance. The workouts were focused around making him quicker while the diet looked to lose weight.

In spring training, Cavicchia did extra cardio workouts on top of the team’s workout. He started off doing a few miles but built it up to about six miles per day. He also used mini-hurdles to work on his jumping and used cones and the speed ladder to work on his footwork and quickness.

‘The less weight you have the quicker you can move, the higher you can jump,’ Cavicchia said. ‘The more explosive you become. When you’re shorter, you need to rely on your feet and being quick with your feet. I’m not the tallest goalie, so my foot work is what gets me into those shots at the top corner and stuff like that and keeping those out.’

He also worked with Iordanou on goalie-related drills, such as jumping to try and improve their vertical leaps in addition to weight lifting and cardio sessions. Iordanou said he benefited from the training as the two propelled one another.

‘He would tell me how when I’m there it motivated him to work harder and basically together we just pushed each other,’ Iordanou said.

In the summer, he worked out at Good Life Fitness in Toronto with his father, Pasquale. He did cardio and lifting about five times a week rotating daily between upper body and lower body set for two to three hours.

His dietary change, though, was more dramatic. He changed everything. He focused on eating plenty of whole wheat and salad with grilled chicken. He said he eliminated all the ‘good stuff’ from his diet like pizza and McDonald’s and drank plenty of water. He lost around 30 pounds.

At a lighter weight and with more quickness, Cavicchia has been one of the shining stars on an SU team that is receiving votes in the national poll. Syracuse head coach Dean Foti said this is the best he has seen his goalie in four years and sees it on every save.

‘We always wanted him to be leaner because we thought it would increase his performance and he took it to heart and did a good job,’ Foti said. ‘He’s able to get to more balls that get crossed into the box. He just seems quicker off the mark when he’s trying to get to different areas to save things.’

When the team has a Sunday off this season, Cavicchia said he tries to go to the gym and get in an extra workout with Iordanou. He’s just continuing a regiment that he began last February that is paying dividends.

‘If I didn’t do this workout, I wouldn’t be able to make certain saves and stuff like that,’ Cavicchia said. ‘It’s definitely because of the other work I have been doing and the training has been good this year too. Definitely, this is my best year and I hope it’s going to get better.’

mrehalt@syr.edu

Published on October 6, 2008 at 12:00 pm