Nicole Levy twirled her stick at the midfield of the Ensley Athletic Center. She cradled twice, tossed the ball left, then right before bouncing it off her knee, tossing twice more in the air and finishing with a kick. Those were the motions that set off a social media firestorm. One hundred and sixty-one likes and 43 retweets later, Nicole Levy’s first successful rendition of #TrickyTuesday previewed the mass changes SU has made to boost its social media presence, following other programs.

“Syracuse lacrosse: We’re practicing, doing all this stuff for getting ready for games, preparing and we still have time to do Tricky Tuesday,” redshirt sophomore Mary Rahal said. “(Let) them know what we’re about.”

Syracuse (9-8, 1-6 Atlantic coast) has been “running the social media game,” goalie Asa Goldstock said, all year. In a season filled with tight games and tough travel, players have unwound with the team’s social account, accepting the “fun” additions the team has made and with good result, players said.

“Why not show girls that they want to come here?” Goldstock asked.

The Orange have various theme days, each growing in popularity as the season goes along. The first, “Be the Best Monday,” typically gets posted in the late morning or early afternoon and depicts a player cutout positioned on a graphic that features a quote from the player about what it means to “Be the Best.”

Tricky Tuesday, which originated with the Levy video, features a player showing off stick tricks. The first two Orange players who participated in Tricky Tuesday carried their skills over to the games. Levy, three days after starring in SU’s first video, highlighted a strong offensive performance with a goal behind her head, which prompted the Orange utilize social media again in attempt to have the goal shown on ESPN’s SportsCenter #SCTop10.

The very next week, the Orange featured Molly Carter, who in the ensuing game against Oregon on Feb. 18 put a ball through her legs for a goal. The Orange’s good fortunes were a surprise to SU head coach Gary Gait, who was eager to put his new weapon to use.

“I gotta get someone else on Tricky Tuesday,” Gait exclaimed.

“Lila (Nazarian)’s a defender though,” he continued, disappointed the next week’s featured player most likely wouldn’t follow the trend the team had followed. “I’ll have to mention that to get more people to do Tricky Tuesday. Tricky Tuesday should give you a great chance for a highlight-reel goal.”

Levy said she “didn’t even notice it” at first. Since then, the Orange has involved different players in the social media movement. After Levy, Carter and Nazarian, featured players on Tricky Tuesday have been Ella Simkins, Rahal, Cara Quimby, Morgan Alexander, Riley Donahue and team-leading scorer Emily Hawryschuk.

The social media changes have excited not only the players participating, but family as well. Senior Neena Merola said her grandma “sees it all,” constantly sending Merola videos and tweets after games which the midfielder said is “really funny.”

“Sometimes it’s me, sometimes it’s one of Nicole’s cool shots or something like that,” Merola said. “She loves it.”

Gait said Tricky Tuesday is “just a fun thing to do where the kids have the opportunity to showcase what they do.” In the preseason, Goldstock spoke a lot of her tendency to do the “fun things that people want to see” in games.

She showcased it on the field with her long clears and dodge moves in Syracuse’s win over Louisville on Sunday, but for a while she hadn’t been asked to participate in Tricky Tuesday. She laughed on March 6 when asked if she’s eager to show off what she has in her arsenal and said she’s just waiting until she gets “called to the podium.” On April 3, she was.

The decision-making process behind Syracuse’s Trick Tuesday choice is random. Levy recalls being called upon by Gait after an early season practice before the first time that the Orange filmed the video.

“Coach (Gait) just asked me, ‘Hey, you got any stick tricks?’ and I’m like ‘Yeah, I got a few.’”

Players have praised the SU’s social media team, mentioning sports information director Susie Mehringer and Janelle Williams, a graduate assistant who is not listed on the team’s official roster. Williams has the title of SU women’s lacrosse social media manager listed on her LinkedIn profile.

Tricky Tuesday and Be the Best Monday are just a start. Syracuse also creates GIFs, graphic images and videos for game previews, after goals and milestones. Among the team’s most popular tweets was a video showing a team celebration after a late win over Loyola on April 5, Gait’s birthday.

Players have expressed a lot of optimism for what the newly revamped social media can bring to the future of the team. Recruiting is one: Merola said she used to watch Twitter feeds of games in high school and it played a role in her decision to come to Syracuse. With social media being as “big” as it is today, Hawryschuk said, having a strong presence is a “good recruiting tool.” As for Goldstock, she expects nothing but the best from @CuseWLAX.

“We should run the social media game,” Goldstock said. “Put a lot of things out on social media, get a lot of followers and bring some fans into the Dome.”

Published on April 23, 2018 at 11:14 pm

Contact Michael: mmcclear@syr.edu | @MikeJMcCleary