Call it the silent treatment.
Midfielder Alex Breiner, by all accounts a player who keeps teammates laughing off the field when she’s not speaking her mind, uncharacteristically clams up when she steps on the lacrosse field.
“Truthfully, when I’m on the field I’m in the zone,” the sophomore from Alexandria, Va., said. “I guess I’m an outgoing person … off and on the field, I’m two different people.”
For the casual observer, there’s little to warrant a change to her silent approach, which led her to be named the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation’s Newcomer of the Year, and finish sixth on the team with 27 points, the most for any underclassman.
But it is the mission of her coaches to learn that in her case, words actually do speak louder than actions.
“I just want her to bring her personality,” Oregon head coach Jen Larsen said.
Breiner’s timing of joining the program has made this transition from precocious freshman to sophomore leader all the more important.
Oregon lacrosse recruited its first two recruiting classes to the maximum amount to fill its early rosters having started play in 2005, meaning subsequent classes were smaller, including Breiner’s three-woman class. In contrast, 16 freshmen enter the program this year to offset the eight graduating seniors from last year.
Although technically an underclassman, Breiner knows the coaches are trying to find a balance between expecting her to fulfill her enormous potential while tempering expectations. Not to mention, she’s making the switch from one of the top reserves to a full-time starter.
“With 16 new freshmen below me, I’ve also been put in this spot where I’m seen as upperclassmen to them when I’m really not,” Breiner said. “I don’t like to fail.”
Still, it might be selling the 5-foot-9 midfielder short to say expectations should be scaled back in any way.
Breiner leads Oregon (2-2) with seven points this season, and her five goals is also a team-best. A former three-sport star in Virginia in basketball, cross country and lacrosse for Bishop O’Connell High, it was her athleticism and “dominance” on the high school field caught Larsen’s eye during recruiting. Larsen said her solid start to the season has been important for gaining back the kind of confidence she showed in high school.
“She’s been getting some of the confidence we’ve been talking about by scoring goals,” Larsen said. “She’s been a dominant force and will continue to be like that with her.”
Nobody has been better at scoring in Oregon history than senior attacker and teammate Ilsa van den Berg. The Ducks usually like to operate van den Berg behind the goal, with Breiner coming down from midfield to the front of the goal. That combination worked several times last weekend for give-and-go goals, including a goal each for the pair against Stony Brook last Sunday, where the other player assisted.
Van den Berg said Breiner’s biggest strength arguably comes from her determined personality off the field.
“She knows her strong suit is taking herself one-on-one,” said van den Berg, who has three goals this year. “I tell her before every game that no one can stop you. Even if they put their number one defender on her, she’ll beat them.”
Enjoying the challenge of taking opponents one-on-one is how Breiner’s “bold” personality off the field manifests itself on the field, van den Berg said.
“I know my class, when we came in as freshmen, we were silent as anything,” van den Berg said. “They were not afraid … she’s quick with the comments and isn’t afraid to speak her mind.”
Trying to use her personality on the field is just one of the changes she’s made, from learning to read defenses better, playing better midfield defense, finding teammates for assists around the goal and varying her shooting style.
Breiner’s goal of improving in different areas is part of her effort to gain something even more important: maturity. She said she wasn’t in the shape she wanted in the fall, and took it on herself to be ready when the spring season came. Van den Berg says she is in the “best shape I’ve ever seen her in.”
The search for maturity and constant improvement has made Larsen pleased, even if her sophomore doesn’t succeed every time.
“A lot of times you don’t totally know what you can and cannot do on the field,” Larsen said. I think it’s a confidence that we’re building with her that we’re building on her game on both ends of the field.”
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