MLAX | Backup plan: A bizarre series of events trust freshman goalie Jake Hagelin into the net for Loyola, where he's starting to assert himself

By: Jesse Caputo

Posted: 3/27/08

When Jake Hagelin committed to Loyola to play lacrosse a year ago, he was content to put in his time on the bench behind battle-tested starting goalie Alex Peaty.

A year later, the freshman Hagelin is getting more playing time than he ever could have expected as the starting goalie for the No. 18 Greyhounds.

Despite having a deep roster of goalies last year, the Greyhounds lost two of their three keepers to transfer. The lone goalie left on the roster, Peaty, had proven himself throughout his sophomore season as a top goalie in the Eastern College Athletic Conference and was expected to be a stalwart for Loyola during the next two seasons.

But Peaty was shut down in the fall due to injury, forcing the freshman Hagelin to fill the void. Instead of now adjusting to the speed of the college game from the safety of the sidelines, Hagelin is forced to do it on the field. The 5-foot-9, 155-pound freshman has started all seven games for the Greyhounds (4-3).

Hagelin and Loyola will visit Syracuse Saturday for a 4 p.m. contest in the Carrier Dome.

Hagelin has responded to his promotion with an impressive freshman campaign despite being thrown into the fray against some of the nation's best. His .549 save percentage ranks 27th in the country and second among freshmen.

"In that first game against Notre Dame, I became so nervous I couldn't even tell you," Hagelin said. "As time went on, I started trusting the defense around me a lot more."

To help Hagelin adjust to the speed of collegiate lacrosse, Loyola head coach Charley Toomey focused on playing an aggressive defensive scheme to limit the number of looks and shots opposing teams got on the new goalie.

The problem was the Greyhounds were shorthanded on defense as well. Loyola plays two first-time starters on its defense and lost its senior leader, defenseman Eddie Graham, to an ACL injury. Senior David Moore has moved into the middle position in the defense.

But despite the makeshift defense assembled in front of him, Hagelin has more than held his own. He's recorded a solid 7.82 goals against average throughout his seven games.

"In the first couple games we wanted to protect Jake and let him get used to the speed," Moore said. "Now seven games in, he's proven himself to us. At first we definitely wanted to play as hard as we could around him, but now we know how he is going to play."

Besides just making saves, Hagelin has to be a leader as well. One of the major roles of a team's goalie is to be vocal during the game. He has to shout out coverages and shift the defense around him.

After an opposing team scores a goal, the defense has a huddle to determine where the breakdown was and how to fix it. Until lately, Moore has been the main communicator within those huddles, with occasional input from Hagelin.

"In the past couple weeks, Jake has really started taking over those huddles," Toomey said. "I told him, you don't have to have a 'C' on your shirt to be a leader in there. He's definitely growing in seeing where the breakdown was and how to move on."

Moore sees in Hagelin a player with the ability to quickly forget about negative plays - something he deems an important trait. With an inexperienced goalie and a defense full of new starters, mistakes are prone to happen.

Indeed, Hagelin has had his share of down performances - the most notorious of those outings coming when Hagelin and Loyola allowed 21 goals in a loss to No. 2 Duke.

But having the ability to look ahead and not dwell on past goals has proven vital for Hagelin this season. It culminated in a breakout performance last Saturday against Massachusetts. After allowing a UMass goal halfway through the first quarter, Hagelin saved his next 14 shots, allowing no more goals in a 15-1 rout.

For Hagelin, that win might be overshadowed by his first career win - a 13-8 result over Towson. Hagelin's brother, Adam, is a senior starting midfielder at Towson. Adam fired two shots at his little brother - one sailed wide of the net, and Jake saved the other. The save, Jake said, gave him bragging rights over his older brother.

While the job clearly belongs to Hagelin for now, questions arise about what happens when Peaty recovers and is ready to be on the field.

Toomey prefers to cross that bridge when he comes to it.

"We have two very capable goalies, and we'll let it play out when it happens," Toomey said. "At this point it's very easy because it's Jake's job. Jake's our guy, and he's doing a hell of a job for us."

jtcaputo@syr.edu