Orangewomen Begin BIG EAST Schedule Versus No. 5 Georgetown
3/12/2004 2:58:35 PM | Women's Lacrosse
SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- No. 8 Syracuse (1-1, 0-0) will open its 2004 conference slate when it hosts defending BIG EAST champion No. 5 Georgetown (2-0, 1-0) on Saturday, March 13 at 1:00 p.m.
It will be the first outing in 10 days for the Orangewomen who haven't taken the field since losing to No. 3 Maryland, 14-11, on March 3.
Senior Leigh-Ann Zimmer leads SU with 11 points, including nine goals. Zimmer became the SU's all-time leading goal scorer with three tallies versus Maryland. Junior Monica Joines is second with seven points (five goals, two assists). Freshman Jill DePetris has started the first two games of her college career and has paced the Orangewomen with eight ground balls.
Georgetown brings a 2-0 record into the pairing, including a 16-7 win at Virginia Tech on March 7 in the first BIG EAST encounter of the season. The Hoyas have dominated their first two opponents holding a 73-30 advantage in ground balls and 32-19 margin in draw controls.
Junior Sarah Oliphant leads the Hoyas with 10 points. Against Virginia Tech, the junior attacker scored four goals and added two assists. Oliphant earned conference offensive player of the week honors for her performance. BIG EAST Preseason Defensive Player of the Year Michi Ellers scored twice against the Hokies, caused eight turnovers and recorded six groundballs to earn BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Week recognition for the second time this season.
Junior Sarah Robinson has only allowed 12 goals in the Hoyas’ first two matches and owns a 6.37 goals against average. She has recorded 19 saves in 113 minutes.
The Orangewomen and the Hoyas have met in each of the last six seasons. Georgetown holds a 6-0 lead in the all-time series. The two squads have met five times in the regular season and also squared off in the first round of the 2000 NCAA Tournament in Washington, D.C. The contest was the first NCAA Tournament game for SU. The score was knotted, 5-5, at the half, but Georgetown took an 11-8 margin in the second. The Orangewomen scored twice to get within one, but the Hoyas held SU scoreless over the final 2:09 to preserve the win.
In last year’s matchup the Hoya defense held SU to just three goals in an 11-3 win. It is the fewest tallies the Orangewomen have ever scored in a match. Zimmer found the back of the net twice and Joines scored once for the Orangewomen in that pairing.
