Drinkwater proves to be a reliable option in net early in season for Orange
By the start of the second period of Syracuse’s 5-2 win against Union on Oct. 26, the Dutchwomen had fired only three shots in goalkeeper Jenesica Drinkwater’s direction.
She had held them scoreless, but had been largely untested all afternoon. Then a Syracuse penalty left the Orange shorthanded and Union got the chance it was looking for.
The Dutchwomen got a shot off. Deflected. Then another. Same result. Two more. No problem.
In the span of one power play, Drinkwater denied four of the best scoring opportunities Union would get all game.
“I’m really happy to get those opportunities,” Drinkwater said. “I’ve just got to come down and focus and try my best to keep that puck out of the net.”
The senior spends most of her games on the bench cheering on the team, while fellow senior Kallie Billadeau mans the net. But in the early going this season, Drinkwater has proven her value. Three times she’s played at least 59 minutes in a day game immediately following a night game the evening before. She’s got three wins to show for it.
“We have a ton of confidence in Jenesica, and she’s playing confident,” head coach Paul Flanagan said. “You can tell with goalies when they’re making saves and either covering it up with their rebounds or they’re ending up in the corner. And there weren’t a lot of rebounds out front.”
Drinkwater’s increased role coincides with the beginning of a senior season in which both she and Billadeau will be competing for minutes on a daily basis. Having been together since day one, four years ago, it’s something they’re used to.
“You’ve got to keep working,” Drinkwater said. “You can’t think you’re automatically just going to be in the net. You have two senior goalies. It’s a good competition. It’s healthy.”
In their freshman year, they admitted the competition was fiercer. But both say they’ve become close friends during their careers.
Moments before the puck drops for every game, no matter who is slated to play, the two have a ritualistic handshake. Completely padded, they high-five and jump in the air and bump each other’s hips.
“We’re really good friends,” Billadeau said. “Being in the same year, we’ve been here for three and a half years now together. We’ve learned a lot about each other. I’m lucky that she’s here with me through this journey. Helping me and helping her. It’s a good situation we’re in.”
It’s not just each other that the two seniors have helped. Sophomore Julie Bengis, the third-string goalie, said she’s constantly learning new things from her more experienced teammates.
She reflected on one piece of advice they both gave her during practice that week.
“There was a drill right out of the corner and there was a man in front,” Bengis said. “They could either pass it out or stay behind the net. I was bringing my outside foot around so the person could shoot and pass it off of me. They were telling me to stay flat until I know the pass is going out.
“They have the experience I don’t have.”
Billadeau has the most experience. She’s started the most games, and has been the go-to goalie early on this season.
Drinkwater has mostly filled in on the back end of weekend doubleheaders, and has done it well. But still, Flanagan wasn’t ready to commit that she’d be doing that all season.
With so much season left, he said, anything is possible.
“If we were to play next Friday in a big playoff game, who would we go with?” Flanagan asked rhetorically.
Then he paused for a moment.
“I don’t know.”
