We are more than halfway through our SU Top 100 list and there have already been so many talented players. It is a tall task to rank the greats of Syracuse athletics, but somehow the Fizz is doing it. Here comes the difficult part, however. Ranking No. 100-50 was easy, but ranking No. 50-1 is almost impossible because all of these players are the best of the best. Either way, we continue on…
Coming in at No. 48 is hands-down the best goalie in Syracuse Women’s Lacrosse historyРLiz Hogan. To be honest, she probably should be even higher on this list because she was that good and she did it for all four years of her SU career. You could even make an argument that Hogan is the best women’s lax player in program history, not just goalie.
Hogan donned the Orange from 2008-2011 and was in net all four years. Let me break it all down for you.
In her freshman campaign, Hogan earned All-BIG EAST and All-Northeast Region First Team honors. She was also named to the All-Rookie team. Those are the accolades and here are the stats: 8.14 goals-against average (1st BIG EAST, 8th Division I), .489 save percentage (1st BIG EAST, 14th Division I), 2.24 ground balls per game (4th BIG EAST). Doing all of that as a freshman is uncalled for.
Hogan didn’t experience a sophomore slump either. In 2009, she was again named to the All-BIG EAST and All-Northeast Region First Teams. Plus, Hogan was on the Tewaaraton Award Watch List, an award given to the most outstanding player in collegiate women’s lacrosse (i.e. Heisman Trophy). She led the conference in goals-against average again.
Hogan’s junior and senior years are where it gets good. She was named the IWLCA Goalkeeper of the Year, the BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year, and earned All-American First Team honors during her junior year. Plus, she led the nation with 211 saves in one season. Hogan garnished similar accolades her senior year, including a third appearance on the Tewaaraton Award watch list.
If that isn’t enough to convince you Hogan deserves to be in the top-50 SU athletes of all-time, here’s a little more. She finished with the most career saves with 660, which is almost 200 more than second place. Plus, Hogan is atop the career ground balls list in the Orange record book. To top it all off, Hogan helped her team make it to the Final Four twice in her four years. It is honestly kind of surprising they didn’t win it all with such a talented player in net.
I haven’t even gotten to the best part about Hogan’s playing days at Syracuse yet. Here it is– she accomplished all of this while rocking some old football pants from the depths of the SU equipment room. A skirt, shorts or pants weren’t good enough for Liz Hogan. No, she needed the football pants. How cool is that??
Hogan has gone on to play for Team USA and become a coach for a couple different schools, including Colgate, Virginia Tech and Stanford.
There are plenty of amazing Syracuse athletes. There are plenty of amazing Syracuse women’s lacrosse players. Yet, Liz Hogan stands heads and shoulders above them all. She deserves to be in the top-50 of our SU Top 100 list, and honestly, she probably deserves to be even higher.
