This past August while competing at the Canadian Ball Hockey National Championships in Vancouver, British Columbia, Syracuse senior Nikki Leone’s wrist shattered.

The Quinnipiac transfer’s status for her senior season, her first donning of an Orange sweater, was in severe jeopardy.

But Leone never misses time on the ice.

Over the course of her career at Quinnipiac, Leone suited up in all but one game (67 out of 68). Now at Syracuse, she has recovered from the injury to become one of the most vocal leaders on a freshman-laden Syracuse team and provides a calming influence for the first-year squad. Leone has scored three goals and four assists for the Orange in its inaugural season.

‘I hate to miss a game, I hate watching my team in the stands,’ Leone said. ‘It was hard for me, especially going into my senior year, to even think about missing a game. When I got back to school I had a cast on, and I didn’t get cleared during the first month or so. But when I got my cast off, I just wanted to get back out there, even though I probably shouldn’t have been doing it.’

Around campus, Leone makes an effort to attend other athletic events and is always looking to meet Orange recruits.

Even on a Wednesday at 1:20, on a day that she will not practice because she has class in mere minutes, Leone makes an effort to be at Tennity Ice Pavilion to converse with the media.

Considering these character traits, there was no doubt to Leone that she would suit up for Syracuse’s first game despite the injury.

And there she was on Oct. 1, setting up the first goal in Syracuse history, just mere seconds into the game, as if no injury had ever occurred.

‘You are going to get bruises, but you just got to tape them up, ice them up, and get back out there,’ Leone said.

Syracuse head coach Paul Flanagan and teammate Gabrielle Beaudry said there is one word that sums up why Leone is able to do so many things: dedication.

‘She’s been very determined and dedicated ever since she got whacked on the wrist out in Vancouver over the summer,’ Flanagan said. ‘She missed training and she had to catch up, but she makes sure she is at practice. It’s uncanny the way she handles things; we rely on her a lot.’

‘This is her last year, and she is going to do anything she can to be out there,’ Beaudry said.

Even after missing only one game for Quinnipiac in two years, Leone made the decision to leave her former program in favor of the Orange. Leone said it came down to proximity to home (she’s from Trenton, Ontario,) and Syracuse’s coaching staff.

‘I was ready to make a change after three years, I wanted to take the challenge of coming to Syracuse,’ Leone said. ‘It’s a great place to learn in your last year, and being close to home always helps, you know, seeing my mom and dad more senior year.

‘The coaching staff was the main draw. We are so fortunate to have a coaching staff like coach Flanagan, coach O’Brien and coach Thomas, they are one of the best staffs in the country.’

At the same time, Flanagan believes that she has brought perhaps just as much to the Orange.

‘Now that she is here, I think that she has taken some ownership to being a veteran even though she is not a captain,’ Flanagan said.

And in no game was the 5-foot-10 senior’s motivation greater than when she returned to Hamden, Conn., earlier this year to take on her former team.

The result: the first win in SU history.

‘It was great to get back and play in the old barn,’ Leone said. ‘By the second game, I kind of came around and we got a win out of it. I wanted to come out during that second game and prove we could beat them. Our chemistry was coming together and it was a great win.’

And in classic Leone fashion, even though she has only been on the Hill for a few months, she is the first player to greet Orange recruits on visits, thinking ahead to the future.

‘She has been awesome when the recruits and parents come to school, she is like the ‘welcome wagon,’ whether it is at the rink or any time on campus,’ Flanagan said. ‘She is a real ambassador for our program.’

aolivero@syr.edu

Published on January 21, 2009 at 12:00 pm