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Heather Sell was told she wouldn’t play against then-No. 9 UConn in 2008 unless she passed the “beep test,” which Syracuse field hockey did to measure endurance. 

As Sell ran, the Syracuse penalty corner unit practiced. The group noticed Sell sprinting up and down the white lines, cheering her on. Then-assistant Lynn Farquhar swiftly put a stop to the cheering. 

Farquhar told the group to let Sell focus on her task. Farquhar placed an emphasis on every player doing their part to prepare for the Big East rival Huskies, Sell recalled. 

“She was supporting in a way, but she was tough on us at the same time,” Sell said. “I put myself in that situation. I’m handling it and then everyone else needs to do the same.”

Farquhar demands maximum effort from her players, a mentality that encouraged Syracuse head coach Ange Bradley to hire her as her first assistant. Farquhar was Bradley’s right-hand woman on the Syracuse coaching staff from 2007 to 2010, when the program made one Final Four, an Elite Eight and earned two Big East Tournament titles. Following Bradley’s retirement after 16 seasons, Syracuse named Farquhar the new head coach in February. Her former players say she’s ready to seize the opportunity. 

“I know all of us alumni, when we saw the announcement that she had the job, everyone was just jumping up and down excited, because she truly is a phenomenal coach,” said Heather Irish, a member of the 2008 Final Four team. “She’s definitely ready for that next level.”

Before coming to SU, Farquhar built Saint Joseph’s into a powerhouse in the Atlantic 10 from scratch. The Hawks had just finished under .500 for the fifth consecutive campaign in 2013, when Farquhar replaced then-head coach Michelle Finegan.

The new head coach finished 9-9 in each of her first two seasons. But in 2016, the Hawks went 15-6, winning the A10 regular-season title for the first time since 1995. 

Farquhar struggled with low-ranked freshman classes each year. When Sara Hayes was recruited by Saint Joseph’s as part of the 2017 class, its Division-I rank was in the 60s. But Hayes was drawn to SJU because she bought into Farquhar’s plan. 

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“She was very up front saying, ‘Hey, this is our vision. It’s going to be a lot of work, but we’re going to get there,’” Hayes said. “I loved our small but mighty mentality of just, ‘Hey, we’re little St. Joe’s. But don’t count us out, because we’re in it for the long haul.’”

Farquhar fulfilled her vision, leading the Hawks to their best era in team history. From 2017 to 2021, SJU won the A10 Tournament four times and made three NCAA Tournament appearances, including its first-ever bid in 2018. Farquhar earned A10 Coach of the Year honors three seasons in a row from 2016 to 2018, becoming the first coach in 25 years to do so.

“We just had a tremendous upbringing, starting (ranked in the 60s) when I was a freshman and being a top 10 ranked program when I was a senior,” Hayes said. “All to Lynn’s tribute.”

After the 2021 season, which included an NCAA Tournament appearance and an A10 title, Farquhar stepped down as the Hawks’ head coach. She spent the next year as the athletic director and field hockey head coach at the George School in Newtown, Pennsylvania. 

“(Farquhar) deserves that,” Hayes said. “She is one that puts in the hard work daily. And it’s awesome just to see her succeed.”

Farquhar’s philosophy stems from her experiences as a collegiate player at Old Dominion. She worked her way up, a value she often shares with her players.

Lynn Farquhar is Syracuse’s fourth field hockey head coach in program history. She took over after Ange Bradley retired at the end of the 2022 calendar year. Courtesy of St. Joseph’s Athletics

“Lynn’s the first person to tell you that when she played at ODU, she was barely on the team,” Hayes said. “She was the water girl, she was picking up balls at the end of practice. She was just happy to have a spot on the squad.”

Old Dominion won the 2000 NCAA championship during Farquhar’s freshman year. From then on, she made it a mission to advance within the program and make a name for herself. 

Farquhar graduated from ODU as a senior captain in 2005. She earned All-South Region first team and All-Colonial Athletic Association second team honors, enjoying a successful career at one of D-I field hockey’s premier programs at the time despite working up from the bottom.

“That’s just something that I’ve respected about (Farquhar),” Hayes said. “That’s pushed me through my time at St. Joe’s, just grinding it out and putting in the work. Lynn did it and I knew I could get there.” 

Irish was a midfielder in her freshman and sophomore years, which were the two years prior to Farquhar’s arrival at Syracuse. When Bradley and Farquhar took over, they thought that Irish was better suited to playing as a back and helped her switch positions. 

“I didn’t really have a spot until Ange and Lynn came in,” Irish said. “Lynn literally transformed my fundamentals and knowledge of the backfield, and that’s where I ended up playing the rest of my college career. I remember my vision completely opening up and seeing the field in a very different way back there.” 

Irish found significantly more playing time and success from switching out of the midfield, playing in 37 games in her last two years compared to 20 in her first two. In September of her senior year, Syracuse defeated then-No. 1 Maryland 2-1. She made a key save on a shot on goal, preventing the Terrapins from evening the score. It was one of the signature regular season wins of the Orange’s 2008 Final Four run. 

Sell said Farquhar used to play with the Syracuse squad during practice. Sell thought having Farquhar practice was beneficial to the team because all the players watched her take command of the field. 

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Farquhar made sure to stop and coach at every teachable moment during practices. Anything that the Orange could improve upon, she tried to fix it on the spot. 

“As soon as she noticed something little she would stop, and she would break it down for us on the board or just by speaking verbally,” Sell said. “(She did) that to the point where we understood it, and she would keep at it until we perfected it.”

Farquhar’s immersive coaching style impacted her athletes even past their playing careers. Irish said she helps coach local youth field hockey in her area and adopted the strategy of playing with the athletes to help their development in a hands-on way. 

The 16-year run that Bradley had with the Orange established them as a well-respected program. Now, Farquhar will attempt to walk the road that Bradley paved. Hayes said that Syracuse’s hire was the “perfect fit.” 

“That program is just going to soar,” Hayes said. “(Farquhar’s) just going to take that program to new heights. She’s creating her own legacy there, which is going to be so cool to see.”

Published on March 29, 2023 at 10:24 pm

Contact Cooper at: ccandrew@syr.edu | @cooper_andrews