When freshman defender Dakota Derrer went down with an injury in the first period against Penn State on Jan. 31, Syracuse was left with only five defenders.

Head coach Paul Flanagan and assistant coach Brendon Knight discussed moving a forward back to defense, but decided to stick with the five.

Three days later, when Flanagan told newly converted forward Danielle Leslie that she was moving back to her life-long position of defense, she knew it was coming.

“She said, ‘I figured as much,’” Flanagan said. “It wasn’t really a conversation.”

At the beginning of January, Leslie began her transition from a defender to a forward. Flanagan wanted her speed to be a catalyst for his ailing offense. But just eight games later, she had to move back to defense because of Derrer’s injury. During the offensive stint she recorded two assists, but now she’s back to doing what she does best as SU heads into its last four games of the regular season.

“I guess in baseball you have your utility player that can catch one day, play third base and maybe play outfield the next day,” Flanagan said. “It’s good because you never know. What’s difficult in our sport is when you have injuries or you’re just trying to fill a niche on your team.”

Ever since she started playing hockey, Leslie was always a defender. That never changed, except for the occasional odd shift.

At times this season, Syracuse elected to go with 11 forwards and seven defenders. But after a month-long break in December, the team was looking to jumpstart its offense that peaked at two goals in its last four games before the break.

Flanagan saw Leslie, a junior, as a speedster who could get to loose pucks, force defenses to play back because of her quickness and play in front of the net. He also recognized that Derrer and freshman Megan Quinn had come in and done a “good enough job” on defense.

At first, playing forward was nerve-wracking for Leslie. Occasionally, she would suffer from what she called “brain cramps” where she would revert back to her defensive instincts. Sometimes she would find herself skating backward on the forecheck, instead of providing the pressure that a forward should.

“You have two people to work with instead of just a partner and you want to create as many chances as you can, as well as getting back and playing defense,” Leslie said. “So I just think that there’s just a lot more to think about as a forward.”

Despite the challenges, Leslie was eager to get on the score sheet and utilize the freedom that a forward has on the ice. She got to take eight shots during the eight games, four more than the 16 games prior.

But with Derrer’s injury that Flanagan said will keep her out for a while, Flanagan needed Leslie to move back.

“You can’t just grab any forward and say, ‘Well you played hockey all your life — get back there,’ so it’s pretty specific,” Flanagan said. “Next to the goaltender, it’s the next most specific spot on the lineup.”

If not for her flexibility, the Orange would have been left with only two complete defensive rotations. Though she is back on defense, Leslie wants to carry her expanded offensive role through the rest of the season.

Against Robert Morris on Friday, she skated into the offensive zone with the puck and put SU’s first shot on goal. Occasionally, she moved down low to grab pucks by the boards or battle for rebounds.

If and when Derrer is able to come back, or if SU finds a need for another forward, Leslie will be ready to make the switch back. But if she were to go down, the Orange would lose a role that can’t be filled.

“It’s really important for the team that she’s got that athletic capability and hockey sense to play both defense and forward,” forward Melissa Piacentini said, “because it helps us out on both ends.”

Published on February 10, 2015 at 12:07 am

Contact Jon: jrmettus@syr.edu | @jmettus