When Syracuse discussed this season’s captaincy in the spring, the team determined it wanted one distinct leader.

The Orange elected Kelsey Millman to be that voice.

“She’s been one of the best captains I’ve ever had in my coaching career,” said head coach Ange Bradley, now in the 16th year of her head coaching career. “Kelsey is really good at bringing people together. She has the foresight and the ability to see a big picture.

“I think that is why Kelsey is our captain.”

Now in her senior season, Millman is the captain that the No. 1 Orange (12-0) envisioned, leading the team to an undefeated start. The forward initiates movement among her teammates, making her the most important part of the high-scoring SU offense. Millman leads the Orange with 21 points and is tied for the team lead with eight goals.

Aside from her offensive duties, Millman sets an example for her younger teammates. And as the captain, her actions represent the Orange program as a whole.

Luckily for Syracuse, Millman continued to play a sport that she wasn’t in love with when she started more than 10 years ago. She only picked up a field hockey stick because her older sister, Sarah, played.

“I didn’t really like it that much at first and then just kept doing it because we would hang out together,” Millman said. “I was more of a soccer player.”

Sarah said she and her sister — only a year apart from each other — were very competitive, always pushing the other to become a better player.

The Millman sisters were teammates in middle school, at Southern Lehigh (Pa.) High School and for the X-Calibur Field Hockey Club in Pennsylvania.

It wasn’t until her freshman year of high school that Millman realized she could play at the Division-I level. Her club team coach, she said, gave the players a list and had them highlight the D-I schools they would want to play for.

Millman didn’t go highlighter-happy, but not because she was modest — she just didn’t know how talented she was.

“I remember highlighting like two teams, not thinking it was a big deal,” Millman said. “Then she returned it back and she had highlighted like all of the Division-I teams. I had no clue.”

Millman’s speed and skill set attracted a long list of schools before she eventually chose Syracuse. She then watched her future team go 22-2 and reach the final four in 2008, building up her excitement to join the program.

Even though she decided on Syracuse before the 2008 season, Millman knew she was going to a talented team, her sister said.

“I know for a fact that she picked Syracuse because it was going to be a school that she felt was going to get her as far in the NCAA tournament as possible,” said Sarah Millman, who played field hockey at American. “And she wanted to be on a team that was going to the final four and was going to be in the NCAAs every year. She picked the right team.”

Millman didn’t earn a starting spot in her first two years with the Orange. Her first two seasons were a learning process, in which her older teammates taught her about forward movement and the press.

Bradley said that two-year span was important for Millman’s development and understanding of how the team’s offense moves.

Bradley also said that “5 o’clock happy hour with Steve” — as the team used to call it — was a great experience for Millman. During the winter of Millman’s sophomore year, she and teammate Heather Susek had a scheduling conflict and couldn’t make some of the team’s practices.

The two would meet with assistant coach Steve Simpson for their own training session at J.S. Coyne Field to work on their shooting and technique.

The individual technical development paid off for Millman. After coming off the bench her first two seasons, she exploded offensively as a starter during her junior season. She finished with 51 points, which ranked best in the Big East and 10th nationally.

“I think last year was a really big confidence booster for me,” Millman said. “I really didn’t know how much potential I really had at the Division-I level until last year.”

After her breakout season, Millman received plenty of respect from her teammates going into her senior year.

Her SU teammates said Millman has the ideal personality for a captain. Regardless of the team’s diversity, Millman can bring all of the team’s personalities together. And as one of the oldest players on the Orange, it is now Millman’s turn to teach the younger players as her teammates taught her.

It is a challenge to lead one of the nation’s top contenders, but Millman’s teammates say she has handled it with ease.

“She always knows what to say to the team before we get on the field,” goaltender Leann Stiver said. “She’s very supportive of everything and she’s got a great mindset out there to lead our team to an undefeated season.”

Published on October 9, 2012 at 12:54 am

Contact Phil: pmdabbra@syr.edu | @PhilDAbb