Women's Lacrosse Announces 2009 Schedule
12/4/2008 11:21:56 AM | Women's Lacrosse
SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Six games against participants in last year’s NCAA Tournament, including four-time defending national champion Northwestern, highlight the Syracuse women’s lacrosse 2009 schedule. The Orange will host seven games in the Carrier Dome, three of which will be against BIG EAST Conference opponents.
“We upgraded our strength of schedule by adding non-conference games against teams like Boston University and Stanford,” said second-year head coach Gary Gait. “The BIG EAST will be strong again this season, as it should have three teams ranked in the preseason top 10.”
The Orange will face Boston University for the first time since the 2003 season. The Terriers advanced to the quarterfinals of the 2008 NCAA Championship and were ranked third in the final RPI. Syracuse has also added three non-conference contests against teams that ranked in the top 40 in last season’s RPI, including Stanford (18th), LeMoyne (31st) and California (36th).
Syracuse opens the 2009 campaign against cross-town opponent LeMoyne at the Carrier Dome on Sunday, Feb. 15, before heading to the West Coast to take on Stanford on Feb. 20 and California on Feb. 22. The Orange returns to the Carrier Dome for two straight games against teams that competed in last season’s NCAA Championship – Virginia (Feb. 27) and Boston University (Mar. 4). The contest with Virginia is the first game of a doubleheader with the Orange men’s team, which will also host Virginia that evening. Syracuse plays its next three games on the road, including contests at Connecticut (Mar. 14) and Towson (Mar. 17), an NCAA Tournament participant a year ago. The string of road games culminates with a trip to Evanston, Ill. to take on Northwestern (Mar. 22). The Wildcats have ended the Orange’s season each of the past two years – in the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals in 2007 and the national semifinals last season.
The newest members of the BIG EAST, Louisville and Cincinnati, visit the Carrier Dome for the first time on Mar. 27 and Mar. 29, respectively. The Orange goes on the road to take on league foes Georgetown (Apr. 3) and Loyola (Apr. 5), before hosting Notre Dame (Apr. 11) and Central New York foe Cornell (Apr. 15). Syracuse travels to Piscataway, N.J. to take on Rutgers on Apr. 18 in its BIG EAST regular-season finale.
Georgetown hosts this year’s BIG EAST Championship on Apr. 24-26. The Orange closes out the regular season at Dartmouth on Apr. 28.
Syracuse is coming off the most successful season in the program’s history in 2008. The Orange won a school-record 18 games, claimed the BIG EAST regular-season and tournament titles, and advanced the NCAA Championship semifinals for the first time in school history. Syracuse led the nation in scoring and set NCAA single-season records for points, goals and points and goals per game.
