Homework in the library for Sydney Tiemann is usually a two-part endeavor. She completes the assignments required for classes and then moves onto watching video of whatever lacrosse matches she can find.
Tiemann finds them on YouTube or watches games provided by her coach. It’s a practice that has become addictive.
The Maryville University attacker seeks out games shown live, and she watches the video of every Maryville game at night after returning home from the field.
“Everyone on the team knows I watch random games probably every day,†Tiemann said. “I’d watch our own film all day long if I could. It’s the easiest way to learn. It’s like homework for me. It’s my alone time. If I’m in a bad funk, I need to watch film to get me out of it.â€
Based on performances by Tiemann and her team, a funk would seem to be the last of of the Eureka High product’s worries.
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She is the latest female athlete to break a national scoring record, doing so Friday with five goals that put her at 314, surpassing the old mark of 310. Maryville beat Quincy 23-7 in the semifinals of the Great Lakes Valley Conference tournament and will play for the championship at 11 a.m. Sunday.
The 5-foot-2 attacker only learned of the record recently but has remained focused on her team’s pursuit of something bigger. Maryville is 17-0 and ranked No. 6 in the country.
“I found out about it at a game when I heard a few people talking about it,†she said. “People kept saying I needed this many more. Then my mom would tell me, and I was like, ‘You’re not supposed to say that. Now it’s going to get in my head.’ I just want to win conference and a national championship or get close to it.â€
Maryville lacrosse has taken off since Tiemann arrived as a transfer from McKendree. With transfers and talented freshmen added this season, the Saints took another step, supplanting Indianapolis at the top of the GLVC.
Tiemann broke the Division II single-season scoring record last season with 115 goals in 20 games. With more threats a year later, there was less pressure to produce. Yet, she still has 97 goals in 17 games.
“One thing she does so well compared to even the big stuff like Caitlin Clark is with success and how they handle themselves under pressure,†Maryville coach Melissa Gyllenborg said. “We didn’t need her to repeat breaking records and took away that pressure. She allowed for that to be OK.â€
That doesn’t mean Tiemann became any less fixated on her video addiction. She has scored at least two goals in every game with a high of nine. She scored in every game last year also with one game of 11.
She did, however, hit a point this season when things didn’t feel quite right. Her practices were suffering, and she figured it was due to the stress of a busy academic stretch.
But Tiemann came to another conclusion.
“I think because I was so stressed with school, I wasn’t able to watch film and was missing that key factor,†she said. “I don’t think some people understand how it helps as a player.â€
The one individual Tiemann likes to watch is Izzy Skane, an All-American for Northwestern who is approaching the Division I career scoring record and generating increased fan interest in her sport on a smaller scale to Clark at Iowa.
Although Tiemann is on the short side at 5-2, she is part of a small team with numerous teammates in the same range. She uses her size as an advantage, taking advantage of defenders who don’t like to get low and trumping physicality with speed and quickness.
“She usually draws the other team’s best defender and gets the physical aspect,†Gyllenborg said. “She’s fast, quick and pretty strong. She can rise above the physical stuff.â€
Maryville suffered three losses last season, all of them against Indianapolis. The third loss was in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Tiemann had seven goals in those games combined.
When the Saints beat Indianapolis last week to win the GLVC regular season title, she had six goals and received plenty of help. The arrival of more offensive support for 2024 is what helped convince her to stay for her fifth year.
“At the end of last season, I knew who was coming in,†Tiemann said. “Looking at it now, I’m happy there are girls on the attack side and everywhere that can put the ball in the net and do what it takes to win games.â€