For Christina Dove, every goal is the same.

Every goal is premeditated somewhere beneath her blond ponytail, where, before the play, the image of herself scoring is so fine-tuned that it will most likely play out as reality. For that reason, when she swung at the net at the 25-minute mark in Sunday’s game, the goal that followed – her 200th point – was just another goal.

‘Same as every game,’ Dove, the Syracuse women’s lacrosse midfielder, said. ‘Nothing’s really changed.’

Change would have meant something more significant. For Dove, her 200th point Sunday was simply proof that the No. 7 Orange’s (8-2, 3-0) offense is productive. It proves that when the team meets No. 8 Georgetown Friday night in Washington, D.C., Dove and her offense have what it takes to score on the road. That when the team meets No. 13 Loyola Sunday at 1 p.m. in Baltimore, she can be confident that she’ll most likely score again.

How so? Because it’s all in her head.

For Dove, all it takes is one goal. From that, she said she draws confidence. She seems to be able to recall how she scores. She sees herself in her position, drawing toward the net for a shot.

‘Once you get the first shot in you can visualize it going in the back of the net,’ Dove said. ‘It gives you confidence when you’re struggling.’

And the goal that notched her 200th point, the sum of Dove’s accomplishment in Orange, was the same. Simple. A premeditated vision, a catch, a drive, a swing. Routine down to sticks that clapped following the goal.

‘Nothing has changed,’ she said.

A couple friends congratulated her on the achievement, a couple friends sent her text messages. Normal. Teammates told her, ‘Good job.’ Head coach Gary Gait told her, ‘Good job.’ Nothing changed.

But that record can measure how far Dove has come.

In a little less than three years in an Orange uniform, Dove leads her team in goals (34) and had a career performance two weeks ago with six goals and two assists, adding to her 203 points. It’s a mark that puts her under only current teammate Katie Rowan (340) and Leigh-Ann Zimmer (233) in the SU record books.

Gait remembers the last time Dove faced Georgetown in the Big East tournament. She was a sophomore and ‘a little tentative,’ overwhelmed by the pressure to score. It wasn’t Dove’s game. A half passed with only two SU goals. The game was slow.

‘It wasn’t her best game,’ Gait said. ‘It was an interesting game. A low-scoring first half and then a turnaround.’

All it took was one goal.

Dove may not feel the difference. Her 200th point was simply a goal. But for a team halfway through its season, the 200th point is an accolade for a leader in development. This is how far Dove has come, like Rowan before her and Zimmer before that.

‘I think we’re leaving this team in great hands,’ senior Bridget Looney said. ‘You have Dove back next year.’

And every goal will most likely be the same. A vision of how she’ll score, then execution. This is what has gotten Dove to her 200th point.

‘Nothing’s changed, no,’ Dove said again.

‘I don’t think that was a particular goal she had in mind to reach,’ Gait said. ‘But it’s one of those milestones that comes along.’

edpaik@syr.edu

Published on April 2, 2009 at 12:00 pm