Heather Schwarz admitted she was nervous the first couple times she lined up to practice the power play at the beginning of the season.

She said she would “choke up” on the puck when pressure came at her. She wasn’t quite sure when to get rid of the puck and when to hold onto it. Schwarz’s nerves on the power play dulled her confidence, but she’s hit a turning point.

“After a couple practices,” Schwarz said, “(I’m) just having more confidence with it and just getting control of the puck, seeing what’s around me.”

Schwarz, a junior, is enjoying a new experience this season as the point of Syracuse’s (2-3) power play, where she has been forced to adjust to something she wasn’t expecting to participate in.

She notched her first goal of the season on a power play against New Hampshire on Oct. 10 and will continue to refine her role as a scoring threat heading into Wednesday’s matchup against conference rival RIT (1-3) at 7 p.m. at Tennity Ice Pavilion.

“It’s actually really exciting,” Schwarz said. “It’s a whole new light and I definitely enjoy being on it, that’s for sure.”

Schwarz dabbled on the power play during the final few games of last season, but her role wasn’t as official as it is now. This season, the forward holds her position near the blue line — because she has the most powerful shot — when Syracuse has a man-up opportunity.

Still, Schwarz’s job is to shoot, and Syracuse head coach Paul Flanagan is hoping Schwarz can develop into her role as a “trigger person” on the power play.

“She’s got a quick shot,” Flanagan said. “It’s not a heavy shot … she can get it and shoot quick. She’s got a quick release.”

Schwarz’s physical ability and technical fundamentals made her an intriguing piece when Flanagan was analyzing whom he would put on the power play and how he wanted it to run it, he said.

By playing back on the blue line, Schwarz will have more time to look for and unload her shot.

“That probably is the one thing that can maybe separate her from a lot of girls on our team,” Flanagan said. “We have some defensemen that shoot the puck well but we don’t have anybody that’s got a bomb from back there that you like on a power play. So I think Heather gives us that element.”

Still, her adjustment to the position took some time.

The nerves that bothered her in those first practices translated into Syracuse’s second game against Northeastern, she said.

While her job to score remained the same, she also had to balance controlling the puck, reading situations and making quick decisions.

“It’s definitely hard as a forward … being last man back, it’s hard,” sophomore defender Megan Quinn said. “And you have pressure on you to decide what to do with (the puck). I think she does a really good job taking her time.”

The progression came full circle against New Hampshire, when Schwarz said the net opened up perfectly and she was able to punch in the goal.

The move to place Schwarz on the power play was strategic, Flanagan said that it was also a result of the personnel he had on the ice. Syracuse already had the players it wanted on its power play, and Schwarz proved to be the final piece.

Heading into the sixth game of the season, she’s finally starting to get more comfortable in her new role.

“I wouldn’t say we just took a stab at it,” Flanagan said. “We said ‘let’s try Heather there’ … and she’s done a pretty good job so far. It’s still evolving.”

Published on October 20, 2015 at 10:55 pm

Contact Matt: mralex01@syr.edu