HAMILTON – Goalkeeper Jenelle Ferri is the only member of the Syracuse women’s soccer team with her own fan club – ‘Ferri’s Fans’ – but she had never started a game. That is, until last night’s game at Colgate.

Ferri – a senior who walked on to the team halfway through her freshman year – was forced into the starting role after an injury to goalie Shannon Myers and a suspension to Emily Kowalczyk, who both split time starting in goal.

Along with her first start, she recorded her first win, too. Syracuse beat Colgate 2-1 in Hamilton.

‘I first heard about (starting) on Sunday,’ Ferri said. ‘I just thought, ‘Oh my goodness! I’m actually starting. This is my third year on the team and I’m actually going to get a chance to show what I’ve been practicing.’ Sure, I started by default, but I’ll take it.’

It was only the second appearance of Ferri’s career. Earlier in the year against Albany, she played 45 minutes in goal and didn’t face a shot.

Last night, Ferri faced 18 shots, stopping all of those attempts except for one. Ferri gave up the first goal of her career in the 58th minute to Colgate’s Kate Barrett.

‘I’m just happy that I was able to get the win,’ Ferri said. ‘It would have been nice to get the shutout, but I didn’t get it. It was a lot more nerve-racking when they came within one goal.’

In the 75th minute, Ferri prevented a tie by stopping a breakaway shot after a Colgate forward stripped SU defender Brooke DeRosa of the ball.

She wouldn’t have been able to get the win without a little luck, though. After diving and missing in an attempt to intercept a pass, Colgate couldn’t put the ball in an open net.

‘She did well,’ Myers said. ‘She seemed really confident and as a goalkeeper, that’s really important. Even if you aren’t confident you’ve got to pretend really well. She was psyched to get the opportunity and she absolutely deserved it.’

She may have deserved it, but Ferri never saw it coming.

‘I really wasn’t expecting to ever have a start here, walking onto a team with two great goalies ahead of me,’ Ferri said. ‘I’ve always been ready to start and said that if my teammates ever needed me, I’d be there to step up to the plate. And it just happened that we had these freaky occurrences happen.’

Freaky indeed.

Prior to Sunday’s 2-1 loss at Miami, Myers was getting ready to warm up and take a few practice shots from goalie coach Greg Tait. But Myers misjudged the first shot she faced.

‘I thought it was more lofted than it was, but it was pretty well-driven to the left side of my body,’ Myers said. ‘I reached over with my right hand to carry it over the top of the goal and my thumb went straight into the ball.’

The thumb was not only dislocated and broken, but it also tore its way through Myers’s skin. She will be out for the remainder of SU’s season.

Without Myers, Kowalczyk started the Miami game. Yet after charging the ball and taking out a Miami attacker, Kowalczyk was given a red card, preventing her from playing the rest of that game and last night’s game.

Ferri didn’t even make the trip to Miami, but was glad to finally get a chance to play.

‘My goal for the night was to get the win no matter what, and that’s what we did,’ Ferri said. ‘I haven’t played in an actual game where I’ve been tested since high school, maybe. It was nice to get tested a little bit.’

Published on October 22, 2003 at 12:00 pm