Her words – not quite Spanish, not quite English – caught Mariana Vernet’s eardrums in between strides to the goal post during practice. Usually Vernet can interpret them. ‘Pass it here’ – or the Spanish, ‘pasarla’ – Martina Loncaria interchanges them all the time. Vernet would understand every time. But these words, that the freshman midfield had never heard before, where lost in translation.

‘What did you say to me?’ Vernet asked, after the missed play while standing on the sideline.

‘I don’t know,’ Loncaria laughed. ‘I got messed up in languages.’

Vernet follows in sync, laughing. The two can understand.

Loncaria and Vernet are one and the same. Both have a mutual connection, where without the other things could become difficult. Both are freshman on the Syracuse field hockey team, both play at midfield, both are from Buenos Aires, Argentina and at times, both seem out of place.

Similar compliments but still separate entities.

As individuals, each brings something different to J.S. Coyne Stadium’s turf tomorrow at 2 p.m. for the Orange’s Big East debut against No. 11 Louisville (5-2), and again Sunday at 1 p.m. when it faces New Hampshire (4-2).

‘For me, it’s easier to play with her when I have her and…’ said Loncaria, coming to a sudden pause.

‘…know what we have to do,’ Vernet finished.

So it’s a rare moment for both to misinterpret each other on a short pass when it’s been something they have practiced together since the age of 12, Loncaria said. She might have been the awkward outsider coming into Club Atletico San Isidro (C.A.S.I) – her first club team in Buenos Aires, that Vernet played on since she was 8 – but Loncaria learned to fit in and play with her teammate. Vernet was willing to help.

They understand each other now, on and off the turf. At times, they find themselves lost trying to interpret teammates’ words in an American collegiate field hockey system where communication is top priority. So they rely on each other.

‘If they say ‘step right,’ ‘drop back’ or whatever we never do that,’ Loncaria said. ‘We just play, it just happens. We communicate in Spanish.’

That’s where words can get mangled, fused between English and Spanish caused by the heat of play. But they can laugh it off and share jokes.

‘They’re very funny,’ said head coach Ange Bradley. ‘You can tell they just know each other, and you get this: Martu! Martu! Martu!’

They’re nicknames from back home. Back from when they played with C.A.S.I., where they have shared experience. Loncaria’s ‘Martu,’ and Vernet’s ‘Vernie.’ The two know what it takes to reach a championship, having won a city title with the club team in 2006.

‘That was awesome because we all knew we could do it but we, we’re going step-by-step, game-by-game. We didn’t want to think huge, we wanted to go little by little,’ Loncaria said. ‘Like we’re doing now.’

Syracuse’s field hockey team is 6-0 for the third time in the program’s history and the first time since 1997. A win Friday will be the first time SU would ever 7-0 start.

Loncaria brings her flair to the team, said Syracuse assistant coach Lynn Farquhar. Something she saw when she flew to Argentina last May. It’s Loncaria’s personality and free spirit that helped her translate to the American style of play.

‘She came in last January, and that winter helped her quite a bit,’ Bradley said. ‘In a semester she has gotten the whole fitness aspect, plus the technical skill and the tactical knowledge.’

When Loncaria had herself acquainted, it was Vernet that found herself as an outsider looking in.

‘It’s a little bit harder of adjustment (for Vernet) because she just got here in August, and imagine yourself in a completely Spanish speaking country,’ Bradley said. ‘It is a bit overwhelming.’

Loncaria is willing to help. Together, the coaches have seen their connection. The quick 1-2 passes between the two led to SU’s first goal against then top-ranked Maryland. Against Colgate it was Vernet that moved to the forward line knowing she had Loncaria to her back.

There are things that are still difficult to translate: reading lines, leadership, controlling tempo, the diamond structure of play and constant communication. But they have each other, and what Loncaria has learned in her extra months of playing on Bradley’s turf she is willing to share.

‘It’s a huge help,’ said Bradley, for Vernet to have Loncaria and vice versa. ‘(Loncaria’s) always just looking after Vernie, and they’ll always speak in Spanish, and then they’ll come back, and she’ll look after her like she’s her sister.’

edpaik@syr.edu

Published on September 18, 2008 at 12:00 pm