One of the new faces on this year’s Syracuse team is Maria, Quebec native Laurence Porlier.

A freshman forward on this year’s squad, Porlier played all four years of her high school career at Brewster Academy, a U.S. preparatory school in Wolfeboro, N.H. She played three of those years for Team Quebec, one of Canada’s premier national women’s under-18 teams. Both experiences gave her a leg up on the competition to help ease her transition into the SU style of play.

“The play is a lot faster,” Porlier said. “There are a lot of more players on the team, so there’s a lot of competition. It’s pretty different from high school.”

She said she’s adjusted well to the faster pace and the coaching style. Both are much easier than she expected, and she’s been very comfortable working with head coach Paul Flanagan.

Porlier said playing just one tournament a year with Team Quebec was both exciting and challenging because it was hard to connect with the girls she was playing with in such a short time.

Now on Syracuse, Porlier said that she gets along well with her teammates.

“I love them,” Porlier said. “They’re all friends of mine and there’re no (cliques). We have a lot of fun and they’re funny.”

Despite the tribulations of being a part of a Division I program, fellow forward Margot Scharfe said, the team does its best to remain close and supportive of each other.

“We have a big team, so sometimes it’s hard to keep the social cohesion,” Scharfe said. “But we definitely are a really close team this year.”

She went on to say that Porlier has adjusted well, as the other freshmen have, to playing for Flanagan’s team.

Scharfe, a senior, has been through the ropes and knows that adjustment can be hard. With that, she is particularly impressed with SU’s newest skaters.

“It’s awesome to see the freshmen grow because we were all there at one point,” Scharfe said, “so we know it’s a tough transition, but I think they’re all making the transition pretty smoothly.”

As far as this season goes, the co-captain sees Porlier making a solid contribution.

Scharfe said that Porlier has a big body, so she’ll be able to play physically, be a force around the other team’s net and make her mark on offense and defense.

Flanagan agreed. He believes Porlier has a lot of potential coming into the season.

“One of the reasons we looked at her during recruiting is she has good size,” Flanagan said. “She’s a good offensive player.”

Games are not nearly as rough as in the men’s leagues Porlier played in, but they’re not that far off.

“In women’s hockey, there’re not a lot of 5-4 games, there are a lot of 2-1 games,” Flanagan said. “I see her really helping our offensive game and giving us depth.”

For Porlier, having the coaches’ and players’ confidences is certainly a great start.

Although she’s just a freshman, her experience with Brewster and Team Quebec sets her apart. Playing at a high level isn’t new to her, so her goals for the season are simple.

Said Porlier: “Perform as much as I can and every game give 100 percent and play hard all the time.”

Published on October 21, 2013 at 10:04 pm

Contact Claudia: ctceva@syr.edu