Get Herald RSSEarlier this week, men's lacrosse goalie Jordan Burke '09 was named the Ivy League Player of the Week for the second time this season after helping lead No. 14 Brown to an 8-5 win over Pennsylvania with 19 saves. Burke leads the Ivy League with an average of 13.5 saves per game, and also leads the country in goals against average (5.78) and save percentage (.707). On Wednesday, Burke helped move the Bears to 4-0 in Ivy League play with 13 saves in an 8-7 win over Harvard. For his outstanding play, The Herald has named him our Athlete of the Week, and here we try and get to know the (bearded) man behind the mask.
Herald: When did you start playing lacrosse and what made you want to be a goalie? Burke: I started playing in sixth grade. A bunch of my friends had played before me, and when I got to middle school and wanted to play the team needed a goalie. So I gave it a shot and I loved it. I've been doing it ever since.
Did you play any other sports growing up or in high school? I played just about everything growing up as a kid, but in high school I just played ice hockey and lacrosse.
What made you decide to play lacrosse in college? I guess it was just a little easier for me to do. Ice hockey has always been my first love. I still play club hockey up here, but I had the chance to play lacrosse in college so that's what I ended up doing.
Penn put 57 shots on you last weekend. Do you like games where you get a lot of shots better than games where you don't see many? (Laughs) I don't necessarily like getting too many shots. I mean I'd be happy not to get any shots in a game and see us win. But I like getting the chance to help the team win by making stops.
This might be kind of a dumb question because it seems obvious, but does it hurt when you get hit by the ball? Do you have a lot of bruises? (Laughs) I have a few bruises right now but I'm pretty used to it. Getting hit really doesn't hurt too bad now. But I got hit in the thumb the other day and that really hurts. That's the worst place to get hit because a lot of goalies break their thumbs. But getting hit in the legs, chest and arms doesn't really bother me anymore.
Do you have any pre-game superstitions? Yeah, I have a few. Before a game I try and do the same thing I did the previous week. But my one big superstition is that I never shave before a game, and then immediately right after the game I shave. Then I let it grow out again until after the next game.
So it's like a hockey play-off beard but for every game? (Laughs) Yeah. Last year there was a game where I shaved before the game and we lost 11 to 3, and ever since then I haven't shaved before any games.
Do guys from the other team ever try and get into your head? Do you hear a lot of trash talk? I really haven't heard any this year. I've heard a little bit in the past but not too much this year. I think the other guys get to deal with more of the trash talk but I don't hear much of it in goal.
The Harvard game was really intense, as both teams were only separated by a goal for most of the game. What did you think of the atmosphere and how did you handle that pressure? The atmosphere was great. We had a bunch of fans and it was a typical Ivy League game. Ivy games are always close all the way to the end so we didn't panic and we found a way to win.
You're leading the nation in goals against average and save percentage. Was that an individual goal of yours? Have you thought about the possibility of being named an All-American? I try not to think about that stuff. Right now we're only thinking about being 4-0 in the Ivy League and that we have a chance to beat Cornell and Princeton to win Ivies and go to the (NCAA) tournament. Having good save percentages are goals of mine but all I'm really focused on is winning the Ivy League.
Do you follow major league lacrosse? Do you have a favorite team? I like to watch it on TV when it's on but I don't have a favorite team. I've never been to a game or anything, but I hope for the sake of the game that it continues to grow and is shown on TV more so it's easier to follow and more people watch it.
Would you like to play professionally after you graduate? Yeah, if the opportunity arises. ... It's definitely something I'd be interested in doing. It's tough because it's a summer league so part of playing depends on if your job allows you to play, so I guess it would partially depend on what I'm doing after school.
Any ideas what you'd like to do after graduation? Not really, I guess maybe something in financial services or sports marketing. (Laughs) I don't really know, I have no real idea.
Obviously your team's goals are to win the Ivy League and make the tournament, but overall where do you see your team being at the end of the year? We have three games left right now. We've got Providence on Saturday and then the Ivy games with Cornell and Princeton. We're on an eight-game winning streak and right now our focus is just on taking it one game at a time. We want to end the season going 3-0 and that's a realistic goal for us.
