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In seventh grade, Emma Ward stepped on the football field for the last time. Her travel football career ended after the 12-year-old earned a spot on her high school’s lacrosse team.

Whether as quarterback, running back or middle linebacker, Ward was on the field — and she was good, said her father, Maurice. She played quarterback and linebacker in the final game of her six-year football career, with three touchdowns and a 70-yard pick six.

Playing football gave Ward a “tough of nails” attitude, she said, which carried to lacrosse. Ward never felt timid or scared being the only female on the field excelled in the sport, Maurice said.

“Football helped her a lot. She never had any fear,” Maurice said. 

Now, in her freshman season at Syracuse, Ward’s lack of fear shined when she was called to replace leading Syracuse attack Emily Hawryschuk, who tore her ACL. Ward has recorded multiple points in every game this season except in Syracuse’s opening win over Loyola, and she’s started the two most recent games. 

Ward has five assists this season, a skill she learned to master in youth lacrosse. Her youth league required players to pass the ball three times before shooting so all kids could have the opportunity to score. But Ward was always one of the best players on the field, Maurice said, and when she would intercept a pass, she would have to refrain from scoring.

“I’m yelling ‘Shoot, shoot, shoot,’ and her coach was yelling ‘No, no, no,’ and that was quite frustrating,” Maurice said. “That was kind of the first time we were like ‘Whoa, she’s pretty good.’”

Ward’s early success helped her make Babylon High School’s varsity team as a middle schooler. But Ward tore her ACL in May 2016, a year after she made the team. Her mom, Jaqui, said the injury was her “biggest hardship.” A year later, she tore her ACL on her other leg.

She came back strong from her two injuries, said Andrew Smith, Ward’s club coach at the Long Island Top Guns. In her final season, playing against the Top Guns’ rival Long Island Yellow Jackets, Ward scored the game-winning goal.

“Being able to go in four days a week and be better is more clutch than having a winning goal,” Ward said. “To have the mindset to be the better and be the best, that’s where the clutch gene came in.”

But in her collegiate debut, Ward had zero goals on four shots, a game in which head coach Gary Gait said she played “a little bit like a freshman.” But the four shots she scored meant she was going to improve, he said. 

One game later, Gait moved Ward from offensive midfield to attack, replacing Hawryschuk. She recorded three assists in the game against Stony Brook. 

“She’s improving right on pace where I hope she would be,” Gait said. “We just gave her more time on the field to get confidence and build that confidence.”

Ward’s self-confidence is something Bill Smith, her other club coach and Andrew’s father, said developed during her time with the Top Guns and while playing football, especially in tough games.

“Her self confidence was tremendous. That’s what really led her to be so well,” Bill said. “In tournaments, she wanted the ball in big points of the game, and a lot of kids don’t do that.”

Emma Ward is Syracuse’s latest freshman phenom, coming in for Emily Hawryschuk who suffered a season-ending injury. Ella Plowman | Asst. Digital Editor

With seven minutes left in the first half against then-No. 11 Duke, Ward scored four goals and ran a slant route from the left side of the 8-meter, looking for an opportunity for a third goal. She quickly threw the ball behind her back from point-blank range, and even though it was a complicated shot, the ball found the back of the net for Ward’s third goal of the game. Ward attributes her success to players such as Megan Carney and Meaghan Tyrrell, who are the quarterbacks of the offense. 

“Them quarterbacking and me just being a wide receiver, running my routes and doing what I’m supposed to be, makes it so much easier on me and leaves me to just do my job,” Ward said.

But against Notre Dame, Ward reverted back to her youth football days and quarterbacked the SU offense. Heading into the second half of Syracuse’s second matchup against Notre Dame, the Orange were down 7-4, the first and only time they trailed at halftime this season. 

The Fighting Irish’s lead didn’t last long, as Emily Ehle scored and Emma Tyrrell added two more. SU won the next draw, and Ward received the ball from Sierra Cockerille with the opportunity to score. 

But Ward didn’t take the chance to shoot herself. Going back to her youth lacrosse fundamentals, she sent a bullet pass to Carney at the crease. Carney scored to make it 8-7, a lead Syracuse did not surrender. 

“I know there’s going to be so many more plays, and that celebration after we win the national championship is going to be one to remember,” Ward said.

Published on March 21, 2021 at 10:44 pm

Contact Anish: asvasude@syr.edu | @anish_vasu