No. 13 Syracuse Heads To Ithaca For Key Battle At No. 11 Cornell
4/18/2006 2:26:05 PM | Women's Lacrosse
ITHACA, N.Y. - The No. 13 Orange travels to nearby Ithaca to take on in-state foe No. 11 Cornell in a non-conference matchup on Wednesday, April 19 at 7:00 p.m. at Schoellkopf Field. Syracuse is just 1-4 all-time at Cornell and lost a 13-12 overtime decision the last time it was there in 2002.
Syracuse Continues Road Swing At Cornell
The No. 13Orange head to nearby Ithaca to take on No. 11 Cornell in a non-conference battle on April 19 at 7:00 p.m.
Syracuse has had a tough time winning at Schoellkopf Field with a all-time record of 1-4. Its lone win came in 2000 with a 17-9 decision. Two of the four losses have come by a single goal, including a 13-12 overtime loss in 2004.
Out of all of the New York state opponents SU has faced, the Big Red has beaten SU the most. Syracuse owns a 5-4 record against Cornell.
Last Time Out
Freshman Kathryn Rowan scored a season-high six goals as the No. 14 Orange defeated Rutgers, 18-8, on April 15 at Yurcak Field in BIG EAST action. Junior Gaddy Fortune matched her career high with five goals in the win, and both student-athletes have cracked the top-10 list for goals in a single season.
Sophomore Kristin Brady added career highs with four goals and six points in the game. She also matched her personal-best with a pair of assists for the second-straight game.
New York State of Mind
Since the program’s start in 1998, Syracuse has proven itself as the the top lacrosse team in the state of New York. Against in-state opponents, the Orange owns a 21-4 record, with all four losses coming against Cornell. SU still owns a winning record against the Big Red at 5-4. Syracuse is undefeated against Albany, Binghamton, Colgate, and Siena. SU has beaten Colgate the most with an 9-0 record against them.
Devastating Duo
Junior Gaddy Fortune and freshman Kathryn Rowan have become one of the most prolific scoring combinations in Syracuse history. The two have both scored 41 goals, and their 82 combined tallies is the second-best of any two student-athletes in the same season. The only other pair to have more goals is Leigh-Ann Zimmer and Monica Joines, who combined for 92 goals in 2004.
The 41 goals this season is fifth all-time in a single season. Zimmer and Joines stand in a tie for third with 43 goals. Lauren Brady posted 44 goals in 2000, and Zimmer holds the record with 52 goals in 2004. Rowan’s 51 points ties her for seventh all-time in a single season with Joines and Katrina Hable. She is just six points away from the second place spot, held by Hable and Kim Wayne. Zimmer recorded a record 74 points in 2004.
The Syracuse-Cornell Series
Syracuse is 5-4 all-time against the Big Red, including a 1-4 mark on the road. Three of the games have been decided by one goal, and another was a two-goal margin.
Syracuse vs. Cornell Series Information
All-Time Series Syracuse 5-4
First Meeting April 22, 1998 (Cornell 8, Syracuse 7)
Last Meeting April 5, 2005 (Syracuse 9, Cornell 8)
Current Streak: SU 1
Scouting The Big Red
Cornell beat Colgate in the first game of the season by a score of 15-8. They also defeated Dartmouth on April 8, 13-8. Courtney Farrell leads the team with 24 goals and 14 assists and Margaux Viola has also scored 24 goals. Viola also leads the team with 22 draw controls. Maggie Fava allows a mere 7.20 goals per game and has a save percentage of .514. The Big Red is a perfect 5-0 at home this season and has outscored opponents by almost six goals.
Freshman Sensation
Orange freshman Kathryn Rowan has established herself as one of the best freshman to play for Syracuse. She has recorded more goals and points than any other SU freshman. Her 41 goals is better than Leigh-Ann Zimmer’s 36 goals in 2001, and her 51 points bested Zimmer’s 49 of that same year.
In SU’s 18-8 victory at Rutgers, Rowan exploded for a season-best six goals. It was the most goals scored by an Orange woman this season and it was one goal short of the SU freshman record. The six goals were the most scored by an individual at Syracuse since 2004 and it was the most by a freshman since 1998, the first year of the program.
No Place Like Dome
The Orange has been dominant at the Carrier Dome since the program began in 1998. In its inaugural season, SU went a perfect 5-0 at the Loud House. It lost just one game in three different seasons (1999, 2003, and 2005). The Orange owns a 58-15 all-time record at home and 12 of its losses have come against top-10 teams.
Northwestern Draws Largest Home Crowd
The Syracuse-Northwestern matchup drew the largest attendance, on record, to the Carrier Dome for a women’s lacrosse game that was not part of a doubleheader with the men’s team. A total of 830 fans flowed through the turnstiles to catch the Orange battle the defending national champion and top-ranked Wildcats. The crowd was not disappointed as Syracuse gave the Wildcats all it could handle before losing, 13-11, the closest SU has ever come to knocking off a No. 1 team.
Defending The Kasel
Senior Jen Kasel is returning to Yurcak Field for the first time since 2004 when she was credited with 23 saves, her career high. That number is two saves shy of the single-game Syracuse record. Kasel got back on track against Colgate on April 12 when she stopped 13 shots, the fifth time this season she has saved 10 or more shots.
Prior to the Northwestern game, Kasel saved 10 shots in three-straight games. She saved 15 shots against Towson on March 19 to record her season-best. She followed that up with 11 saves against UConn and then 10 against Albany.
Kasel has stopped 10 or more shots in three-straight games twice before, once in 2005 and again in 2004. In 2004, Kasel ended the season saving 10 or more shots in seven of the Orange’s last eight games. That stretch included a career-best of four-consecutive games with 10 or more saves, the last four games of the season.
She was one save short from extending her streak to four games when she was credited with nine saves against the top-ranked Wildcats.
Stingy Defense
The SU defense went four-straight games without allowing 10 goals. The last time an Orange defensive unit went four-consecutive games without giving up 10 goals was in the 2003 season. UMass and UConn were both a part of that streak as well.
The defense’s most recent stinginess came against Albany on March 28. The defense held Albany scoreless for a span of 28:15, the second-longest span this season. SU scored seven goals during that stretch to take an insurmountable 8-1 lead against the Great Danes.
The defense also came up big for the Orange against Connecticut on March 26. After allowing the sixth Husky goal at the 3:05 mark in the first half, the back line did not allow another goal until there was 7:07 left to go in the game. UConn was held scoreless for 25:58, the third-longest scoring drought for an SU opponent this season. The longest the defense has held without allowing a goal is 47:19 against Binghamton on March 7. In the 7-5 win against Towson, the Tigers could not find the back of the net for 24:36.
Fire Starter
Syracuse scored quickly in each half against Albany on March 28. Gaddy Fortune started the scoring when she put a shot in the net 40 seconds into the game. That was the quickest goal scored by SU in a game since Caitlyn Dragon notched one 28 seconds in at Harvard on March 16 of last season.
Dragon started the scoring in the second half just 25 seconds in against the Great Danes. That was the fastest goal scored in any half since April 30, 2005, when Dragon notched a goal 22 seconds into the second half against Notre Dame.
March Madness
The 2006 schedule features 11 home games, which is the most since SU played 11 at home in 2001. The Orange went 10-5 that season. SU hosted its longest homestand in program history in March with seven-straight home games at the Carrier Dome. The Orange went 5-2 in that stretch and 5-3 overall in the month of March.
SU’s Most Lopsided Wins
The win against Binghamton on March 7 was one of the most lopsided in school history. The Orange beat the Bearcats 21-2. The largest margin of victory came in the program’s first year of existence when it beat Connecticut 20-0 in 1998. That same season, SU topped Siena 19-0 and Albany 23-4. SU has outscored opponents by 19 four times.
Good Fortune
Junior Gaddy Fortune has provided the Orange with a lot offense this season. So far, she has totaled a team-best 41 goals and three assists and her 44 points is second on the team. In 15 games played last year, she compiled just 10 goals. She has also totaled 20 ground balls, nine draw controls, and 11 caused turnovers.
Against Loyola on April 8, Fortune took the second half by storm. After taking just one shot in the first half, Fortune fired eight shots in the second and scored five times, which tied her career-high. In a 5-0 run that brought the Orange within one at 10-9, she contributed with two goals. Down 12-9 with 5:06 left, Fortune scored the next three Syracuse goals over a span of 1:50 to force overtime.
Dragon A Steady Force
Caitlyn Dragon avenged SU’s loss to Dartmouth in the NCAA Tournament last year when she tossed a shot with one second left in overtime past the Big Green goalkeeper on Feb. 27. The game-winner gave Syracuse a thrilling 11-10 win over No. 3 in the nation.
Dragon, who is currently enrolled at graduate school at Syracuse, is third on the team with 18 goals, six assists, and 24 points.
Last season, the Jackson, N.J. product finished fifth on the all-time single-season ledger with 40 goals and 55 points. Her 15 assists ranks ninth all-time in a single season. Dragon missed the 2003 season and earned a medical redshirt for the time she missed.
Going into last year, Dragon had compiled just seven goals in her previous three years. She played in just 15 games from 2002-2004. Last season, she played in 16 of the Orange’s 17 games. For her efforts, she was named to the All-BIG EAST First Team. Dragon also earned IWLCA/US Lacrosse Division 1 North All-Region First Team honors and was named a third-team All-American. This season, she earned Preseason All-BIG EAST honors.
DePetris Always There
Junior Jill DePetris is second on the team with seven assists this season, with three of them coming in SU’s thrilling overtime win against Dartmouth. She totaled only seven helpers the entire 2005 season. DePetris also leads the team with 20 caused turnovers and 43 ground balls. She posted her first hat trick of the season when she scored three times against Binghamton on March 7. She has totaled 10 goals on the year. DePetris has started every game since her arrival on campus, beginning all 45 of the games she played in since 2004.
DePetris was also named to the Preseason All-BIG EAST Team after earning second-team All-BIG EAST honors last year. In 2005, she started all 17 games and recorded 18 goals and seven assists. She also led the team in ground balls with 36. Her 18 goals topped her 2004 total by one.
With :01 Left, Dragon Delivers
Senior Caitlyn Dragon scored with one second remaining on the clock in overtime to lead No. 13 Syracuse to an 11-10 victory against No. 3 Dartmouth on Feb. 27 at the Carrier Dome. The Big Green scored with 17 seconds left in overtime to tie the game before Dragon tallied the game winner.
Junior Chelsea Strodel secured the draw control with just six seconds left. Strodel then found classmate Jill DePetris who found an open Dragon right in front of the net. Dragon turned and fired a shot past the Dartmouth goalkeeper to push SU to the win.
Dragon finished the game with three goals and freshman Megan Mosenson also tallied a hat trick and assisted on another goal. Freshman Kathryn Rowan notched two goals for the Orange. DePetris had three assists, including the game-winner. Senior goalkeeper Jen Kasel saved 10 shots for SU in the win.
Singing A Melody
Senior Melody Agnew, a native of Winchester, Mass., couldn’t help but let her teammates score a year ago. She compiled 25 assists in 2005, the second-highest single-season total in school history. She also added 16 goals as she started all 17 games, which placed her third on the team in scoring. Kim Wayne is the only other student-athlete in Orange history who has amassed more assists in a season. She notched 25 helpers in 2003, and holds the record for assists in a season with 33 in 2002.
Agnew, who was held scoreless in the Orange’s first three games, broke out against Binghamton on March 7. She notched five assists, all in the first half, to lead SU to victory. That number is tied for fifth for the most assists in a game in the country this season. The assist total set a new career high for the senior who also scored a goal. The Winchester, Mass. native ranks fourth all-time at Syracuse in assists with 38 in her career.
Ain’t Nothin’ But A "D" Thing
The Orange defense has proved strong over the course of the first 13 games. The back line is allowing 8.56 goals per game and has caused 137 of the 221 turnovers it has forced in 12 games, which comes out to 66 percent. The defense has also been strong on free position shots, as opponents have scored just 30 times on 97 attempts, a 31 percent clip. The SU scoring defense ranks 18th in the country.
The defense has stifled some of its opponents on the offensive end. Against Binghamton on March 7, the Orange held Binghamton scoreless in the second half, the only time that has happened this year. SU only allowed the Bearcats two goals in the first half of that game. The back line has also held Harvard and Towson to two-goal halves. In the second half against UConn, Syracuse allowed just one goal and then carried that momentum to the first half against Albany when it also allowed only one goal.
Queen Of The Kasel
Senior Jen Kasel came up huge for the Orange in its wins against Dartmouth and Towson. She saved 10 shots in the game to hold the Big Green at bay on Feb. 27. Against Towson, she stopped a season-high 15 shots to lead SU to the 7-5 win. For her performance, she was named the BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Week.
She has also proven herself as one of the most dominant goalkeepers in SU history. Her 119 saves last season was the fifth-highest total in a single season. The previous year, she stopped 181 shots, just five behind the single-season leader, Clothilde Ewing. On the all-time ledger, the Mountain Lakes, N.J. native ranks second in saves with 391 in her career. The all-time leader in that category is Carla Gigon, who saved 475 shots in her illustrious career.
Kasel also made a mark in the single-game saves record books. On April 3 of 2003, she stopped 23 shots against Rutgers in a 15-5 victory. Ewing holds the record for saves in a game with 25. She achieved the feat on the same exact day in 1999. Kasel has started every game in net the last three seasons for the Orange.
Home Games To Be Streamed Live On suathletics.com All-Access
Syracuse University Director of Athletics Dr. Daryl Gross announced that it will offer live video streaming of all home men’s and women’s lacrosse games as part of the department’s All Access subscription service on www.suathletics.com. To subscribe to the Orange All Access package click on the Orange All Access on the school’s athletic website.
For optimal results in viewing streamed video, computers must have a high-speed internet connection and the latest version of Windows Media Player (a free download at www.microsoft.com/windowsmedia). Bandwidth constraints of service providers can affect the quality of the picture.
The All-Access service includes comprehensive video highlights, interviews, press conferences and behind the scenes features of all sports. All Access also includes live streaming audio of game broadcasts, as well as archived features and coaches shows. Cost of the All Access subscription service is $9.95 per month or $79.95 for a full year.
