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sa Goldstock was in middle school when she first met Kayla Treanor. They lived in the same neighborhood and Treanor coached in Goldstock’s recreational lacrosse league, making the two practically family, Goldstock said.
When Syracuse trailed by six in the final seconds of the 2021 National Championship game, Goldstock had run outside the 8-meter to attempt to regain possession. Boston College continued to pass the ball around its attack, realizing it was seconds away from its first national title. As Goldstock reentered the arc with 10 seconds left in her SU career, her head dropped straight to the ground.
The win meant that Treanor — then an assistant coach at Boston College — won her first national championship. She consoled Goldstock — someone she always considered “her rock.”
It was something Treanor had done many times before. Goldstock struggled with balancing school and athletics as lacrosse was becoming a job, and less so the sport she loved. So Goldstock called Treanor almost every day, just like she did since high school.
But Goldstock isn’t alone in that relationship with Syracuse’s new head coach. Current and former teammates, along with coaches and players, said her personality and high lacrosse IQ left an impact on them and will influence Syracuse lacrosse positively. Treanor cultivated her personality and learned the game in a creative and unique way after being surrounded by coaching in her youth.
Treanor shares very similar qualities with her predecessor, Gary Gait, said Gabby Jaquith, a former SU teammate. Lisa Miller, who coached with Treanor at Harvard and was the first coach in Syracuse history, said Treanor reminds her of former SU men’s lacrosse coach Roy Simmons Jr. since they are both able to connect with players in a nonconfrontational way. Together, they make up important features for the person taking over a Syracuse program with national title aspirations.
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“Syracuse was taking a little bit longer than they should have. I’ll say that wholeheartedly,” Army head coach and former SU player Michelle Tumolo said. “I couldn’t think of anyone better to lead that program.”
Treanor grew up around coaching since her father, Mark Treanor, coached basketball at various levels. After Gait was hired as head coach of Syracuse’s men’s team, Treanor saw an opportunity she could never pass up.
“Syracuse is home to me,” Treanor said. “It was a no-brainer for me to go and try to take that opportunity and go for the interview.”
After she was hired by SU in June, Treanor said she planned to use what she had learned with the focus of pushing creativity on the field from the team. Treanor will build on what Gait already established, while still using her own qualities to instill creativity and confidence in her players, former Syracuse assistant coach Regy Thorpe said.
Even at a young age, Treanor thought creatively about lacrosse. Treanor was drawn to soccer and basketball instead of lacrosse initially, and after eventually getting into lacrosse, she found ways to incorporate basketball into lacrosse.
Mark said the terminology and some concepts in the two sports were similar, and the variety of sports Treanor played eased her transition to lacrosse.
“The way I view lacrosse is through a basketball lens,” Treanor said. “Whether it be the way you play defense, or offense or your individual moves.”
Treanor also used this to become one of SU’s all-time leading scorers by consistently finding different ways to score. Jaquith remembered a goal where Treanor shot the ball between her legs with her back facing the goal against Loyola.
“She’s an innovator and a creator,” Jaquith said. “She loves to cross other sports into lacrosse.”
Treanor’s creativity also inspired her to try new ways to practice and play. As an assistant at Harvard in 2017, Treanor let players be “looser” in practice, fellow assistant Carla Gigon Farkes said. Farkes said many of the players on the Crimson had a “type A” personality and were more used to a regimented system of play, something Treanor helped change.
The Crimson’s top scorer that year, Marisa Romeo, said Treanor also taught her the power of visualization. In practice, Treanor had attackers close their eyes in attacking drills and visualize how they would score.
In one game, Romeo remembered visualizing using a backhand shot to score. When she got that chance in a game against Cornell, Romeo held the ball from behind the net and came around the left side. While barely turning to face the goal, Romeo scored a right-handed backhand shot to give the Crimson a 2-1 lead. Miller loved how Treanor was able to make different concepts easy to understand.
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“(Coaches) can kind of get carried away with X’s and O’s and pretending we know more than we do,” Miller said. “Her way of communicating made it simple for the kids.”
Treanor’s ability to understand and easily explain every aspect of the game came from hours of watching film. Treanor was always the first player at each film session, and whether it was about the draw control or being down a player, Treanor was on top of it, Thorpe said.
Former SU player Brenna Rainone said Treanor earned the respect of teammates by keeping everyone on the team involved and included. “She never was exclusive with people,” Rainone said. “She always was open to everyone’s opinions.”
Treanor’s connections with her players are something Goldstock has always valued. Goldstock also knows from the conversations she’s had with current players that they will be grateful to have Treanor as the coach takes on her first head coaching job.
“Every current player on that team grew up watching Kayla Treanor at Syracuse,” Goldstock said. “So having her come in and coach that team is having your biggest role to try to win a national championship.”
Photo courtesy of SU Athletics
Published on February 9, 2022 at 10:12 pm
Contact Henry: henrywobrien1123@gmail.com
