The Boston University lacrosse team was up 7-1 with 12 minutes left in the first half against the University of Vermont Saturday afternoon at Nickerson Field when Kelly Trahon sprinted from the left wing toward the Catamount net, stopped and flicked a pass behind her back to a waiting Lindsay Lewis.
Lewis stuffed home the co-captain’s pretty offering – Trahon’s fourth assist of the year – adding to the collection of highlights in the Terriers’ 13-2 win over their defenseless conference foe.
But Trahon, who added her fourth goal of the season in the victory, said she didn’t plan to go behind-the-back until she saw she had to.
“It was kind of spur-of-the-moment,” the junior attacker said.
The play caught everyone off guard, from Vermont goalkeeper Kate McBride to BU coach Liza Shoemaker.
“All I know is I said, ‘I didn’t teach her that,'” the coach joked. “That’s not from the Liza Shoemaker repertoire.
“But it’s the right pass to make there,” Shoemaker added. “The defender was on her right side and, in order to get it over there, that’s what she had to do. That’s what our attack is capable of and we haven’t seen that all year.”
But Trahon’s fancy stickwork was not only a glimpse of BU’s offensive potential. The play reminded everyone of what type of game Trahon can bring to the field for the Terriers.
After a freshman-year knee injury limited her to only three games in 2001, Trahon came back as a sophomore and played her way onto the America East First Team. She led the conference with 22 assists and set a BU record with seven helpers in one game against Binghamton University. The sophomore Trahon also netted 15 goals.
She was on pace to have another solid year in 2003, but Trahon suffered another knee injury just before the season. Like her freshman campaign, Trahon was forced to the sideline and had to redshirt her junior year.
“She was playing so well in preseason, so when she went down [last year], that was really disappointing,” Shoemaker said.
But with the continued strong play of Alyssa Trudel and the arrival of freshmen Mary Beth Miller and Lewis, the Terriers more than made up for Trahon’s absence last year, breezing to a conference championship.
Trahon, though, said she still enjoyed the team’s success, even when she wasn’t in uniform.
“I was still part of the team last year,” she said. “We’re all part of the team in our own way. It feels good to win no matter where you are.”
Back on the field this season, Trahon is making the most of her opportunity on what has become a talented squad. Shoemaker said the junior has adjusted well into her co-captain role.
“This year, I think that Kelly is really doing a good job of leading out there by going hard everyday in practice,” the coach said. “She has great work ethic. For Kel, every day is more confidence. You wouldn’t know it by a play like [the behind-the-back pass], but she’s been going hard every time to make things happen.”
Though she wouldn’t admit if she was planning on attempting the nifty pass, Trahon did say she was glad to be helping her team again.
“It’s really great being back,” she said. “I’m really enjoying being out there for every minute.”
Shoemaker is also happy Trahon is back. The coach said Trahon’s pass wasn’t that surprising, because the junior has become known for her great stick control.
“She can touch anything that comes near her,” Shoemaker said, “where other teams are like, ‘Oh my gosh – how did she get that?'”
With one swipe of her stick behind her back, there was no doubt that’s what Trahon had the Catamounts saying on Saturday.
This is an account occasionally used by the Daily Free Press editors to post archived posts from previous iterations of the site or otherwise for special circumstance publications. See authorship info on the byline at the top of the page.
