No. 15 Field Hockey at Home Against Albany on Oct. 5
10/5/2004 11:48:22 AM | Field Hockey
ORANGE EARNS NO. 15 SPOT IN NATIONAL RANKINGS
Head coach Kathleen Parker’s squad added two more wins to its impressive win streak (now at six games) and appeared at No. 15 on the Oct. 5 STX/NFHCA Division I National Coaches Poll. The six-game winning streak is the longest since 2001 when SU won 10 consecutive contests during one stretch.
SERIES AGAINST ALBANY
Syracuse is 5-0 against Albany since the first meeting between the two programs in 1999. Last season, SU defeated the Great Danes, 8-1, at home. Overall, the Orange has outscored Albany, 23-2, during the five-game series.
SULLIVAN COMING INTO HER OWN
Junior forward Paige Sullivan tallied seven points (three goals, one assist) in the two wins against Cornell and UMass last week. She netted a career-high two goals in the win against the Big Red and contributed a goal and an assist in the Massachusetts victory. Sullivan is tied for the team lead in scoring with senior forward Brittany Carriero. Both players have nine points and four goals on the season. In 16 career games prior to this season, Sullivan had one goal, one assist and three points to her credit. The nine points is a new career-high for Carriero, who had back-to-back seven-point campaigns in 2001 and 2002. The four goals is a season-best as well.
BIG EAST WEEKLY HONORS ROLLING IN
Fifth-year senior goalkeeper Betsy Wagner was named the BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Week and the ECAC Goalkeeper of the Week for the second time in her career on Sept. 28. Sophomore forward Ashley Fry earned BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week honors for the first time.
Wagner made eight stops in SU’s 3-2 overtime win against Penn State. She followed that effort with an 11-save performance versus Boston College in a 2-1 double-overtime win. Six of her saves against the Eagles were made in overtime. Wagner is ranked 13th in the nation in save percentage (.812). She is second among conference goalkeepers in goals against average for BIG EAST games only (0.86). She has 69 saves on the year. Her season goals against average is down to 1.48, following her first shutout of the season against Cornell. It was the fifth shutout of Wagner’s career.
Fry scored both goals in SU’s win against Boston College. Her two-goal effort was a career-high after notching just two goals in her previous 26 outings. Fry is tied for fourth on the team in scoring with six points (three goals).
CAREER FIRSTS
Junior midfielder Jessica Dahle scored her first collegiate goal on a penalty stroke against Cornell. Freshman Courtnie Geissler saw quality playing time against the Big Red and responded with her first career assist.
PARKER APPROACHING CAREER VICTORY NO. 300
Syracuse coach Kathleen Parker is in her 27th season in charge of the Orange field hockey program. During her career, she has guided SU to 291 victories, the nation’s sixth-best win total among active NCAA Division I coaches. She is a four-time BIG EAST Coach of the Year (1993, 1994, 1995, 2001) and has led Syracuse to 14 of 15 appearances in the BIG EAST Tournament, along with three NCAA Tournament appearances (1993, 1995, 2001).
QUICKLY ABOUT THE GREAT DANES ...
First-year head coach Phil Sykes has guided Albany to a 5-5 record and a 1-0 mark in the America East Conference ... The Great Danes have won their last three games against St. Francis (3-0), Providence (2-1) and UMBC (3-2) ... Albany’s other wins this season have come against Rhode Island (2-1) and Siena (2-0) ... The Great Danes are 1-2 on the road this season ... This will be Albany’s second game of the year at Coyne Field ... On Sept. 2, the Danes matched up against Pacific on Syracuse’s home turf ... Pacific defeated Albany, 3-1 ... Alexis Johnson leads the team in scoring with seven goals and 16 points ... Tina Bryson has five goals on the season ... Four players on the team have recorded two assists ... Kristen Holder is third in the scoring column with seven points on three goals ... Barbara Czaplinski has played all 700 minutes in the cage ... She is the owner of a 2.60 goals against average and a .690 save percentage.
