Orange Spotlight: March 9, 2009
3/9/2009 9:06:53 AM | Softball, Tennis, Track and Field, Ice Hockey
The Orange is transitioning nicely from the winter to spring seasons as the #25/25 men's basketball team (23-8, 11-7) downed Rutgers and #13/15 Marquette to close out the regular season schedule and build some momentum heading into the BIG EAST Tournament. Syracuse's victory at the Bradley Center on Saturday afternoon was only the second time an opponent defeated Marquette on its home court. The men are headed to the Big Apple for the 2009 BIG EAST Conference Tournament to play this week. As the sixth seed, SU has a first-round bye. Syracuse will face the winner of Tuesday's first-round contest between Seton Hall and USF in the quarterfinal round on Wednesday, March 11 at 9 p.m. at Madison Square Garden. The men's and women's lacrosse teams bounced back from the double-header against Virginia last weekend with a pair of wins. The second-ranked men's (3-1) squad clipped No. 12 Georgetown, 8-6, in front of a sold-out crowd of 2,942 at Multi-Sport Field in Washington, D.C. while the fifth-ranked women (4-1) defended their home turf against No. 10 Boston University with a 17-8 triumph. The Orange women outscored the Terriers, 12-1, in the second half, helping Syracuse overcome a two-goal halftime deficit. The men's and women's track squad turned in a fine performance at the ECAC/IC4A Indoor Championship in Boston this weekend. The women matched last year's third-place finish while the men improved to eighth, 15 spots better than last season. The women's tennis team (8-3, 2-1) lost its Monday matchup at Army, 5-2, despite winning its ninth doubles point in 11 tries this season. The women's ice hockey team (9-16-3, 2-12-3) capped its inaugural season with a tough 3-2 setback to Niagara as the #4 seed in the CHA Playoff Tournament. Orange softball (10-8) had a tough outing on the West Coast, losing 4-of-5 games in California as part of its second to last tournament before BIG EAST play starts up. The women's hoops team (16-14, 5-11) was ousted in the first round of the BIG EAST Tournament to St. John's, 63-61.
Track & Field
The track & field team continued with its lucrative indoor season as the women tied for third place, matching the best finish at the ECAC Championship under head coach Chris Fox. The men claimed eighth, which is a marked improvement from last season's T-23rd showing.
In addition, senior Kyle Heath stamped out a 26-year old record at Notre Dame by finishing the 3,000-meter race in 8:00.14, surpassing All-American Jim O'Connell's record of 8:04.80 he set back in 1983.
The Orange also boasted three student-athletes with top honors in Boston as sophomores Jarret Eaton and Flings Owusu-Agyapong and junior Uhunoma Osazuwa claimed first-place titles in the 55-meter hurdles, 60-meter dash and pentathlon, respectively.
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Last Week
March 7 – Alex Wilson Invitational (No Team Score)
March 7 & 8 – IC4A/ECAC Indoor Championship (Women, T-3rd; Men, 8th)
This Week
March 14 & 15 – NCAA Indoor Championship (College Station, Texas)
2008-09 Indoor Track & Field Schedule
Women's Ice Hockey
The ice hockey team finished its inaugural 28-game season this past week in its debut at the 2009 CHA Playoff Tournament hosted by Mercyhurst College in Erie, Pa. Syracuse was the fourth-seeded team and took on #5 seed Niagara in the opening quarterfinal game. Syracuse dominated the majority of the contest but could not knock off the Purple Eagles in its first taste of college playoff hockey, 3-2.
Freshman forward Kylie Klassen recorded Syracuse's first playoff goal in school history to initiate the scoring with first-year winger Megan Skelly and sophomore co-captain Julie Rising receiving credit on the assist.
Sophomore captain Stefanie Marty capped the season as SU's points leader with 22, overall (10 G, 12 A). Skelly's two assists gave her 21 points on the season (11 G, 10 A), while Rising finished in a tie for third in team scoring with freshman forward Lisa Mullan by notching 19 points.
Junior netminder Lucy Schoedel staffed the net every game for Syracuse in its inaugural season, 28 in all, and made 24 saves on 27 Niagara attempts in the season finale. Schoedel finished the year with 712 total stops.
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Last Week
March 5 – No. 4 Syracuse vs. No. 5 Niagara, L, 3-2 (CHA Playoff Tournament)
This Week
Inaugural season is now complete.
2008-09 Women's Ice Hockey Schedule
Women's Tennis
Junior Chelsea Jones recorded her 50th career victory after winning her No. 2 doubles match with junior Ashley Spicer at Rutgers on March 1. Spicer and Jones are tied for the best doubles record this season (9-2) and both third-year netters have assembled a team-best 8-3 overall singles record. Syracuse hit a minor speed bump after vaulting out to a 7-0 start by losing three of its last four.
Last weekend, the Orange defeated Cornell at home, 4-3, but lost both of its road matches at Rutgers and Army by the same count, 5-2. All six singles players went 1-2 in competition, but doubles play held strong as SU won two of three doubles points. Syracuse has claimed the doubles point nine times in 11 attempts. Aside from Jones and Spicer's 8-3 records, the remaining top four players (freshmen Emily Harman and Alessondra Parra and sophomores Christina Tan and Simone Kalhorn) are all 7-4 in singles action.
The Orange is now on its spring break trip in the Sunshine State and will contend against Florida International and BIG EAST foe South Florida over its trip.
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Last Week
March 2 – at Army, L, 5-2
Next Week
March 12 – at Florida International (2 p.m.)
March 15 – at South Florida (11 a.m.)
2009 Women's Tennis Schedule
Softball
Syracuse blanked Longwood, 4-0, as part of the Long Beach State Tournament this past weekend. Senior Jamie Kelling led the Orange by going 2-for-3 with two runs, two RBI and a triple. Sophomore Hallie Gibbs and freshman Stephanie Watts both closed out the day 2-for-4 with Gibbs adding two RBI. Sophomore hurler Angie Sagnelli improved to 4-0 on the year having pitched the first four innings. Junior Brittany Gardner registered her third save of the year, throwing two strikeouts in 2.2 innings to finish the game.
The Orange lost to Cal State Fullerton, 4-2, as the only contest outside of the Long Beach State Tournament. Following the Longwood victory, Syracuse was defeated by #4/3 UCLA, 11-0, Florida International, 5-2, and Long Beach State, 4-1.
Watts has been wrecking the ball at the plate with her team-leading .412 average amongst starters. The first-year infielder also leads the Orange in slugging percentage (.843), runs (22), triples (4), home runs (4), total bases (43) and on-base percentage (.516).
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Last Week
March 6 – at Cal State Fullerton – L, 4-2
March 7 – vs. Longwood (Long Beach State Tournament) – W, 4-0
March 7 – vs. UCLA (Long Beach State Tournament) – L, 11-0
March 8 – vs. Florida International (Long Beach State Tournament) – L, 5-2
March 8 – vs. Long Beach State (Long Beach State Tournament) – L, 4-1
Next Week
March 13 – vs. North Florida (Adidas Invitational Tournament at Winthrop University) - (11 a.m.)
March 13 – vs. Winthrop Florida (Adidas Invitational Tournament at Winthrop University) – (3 p.m.)
March 14 – vs. Illinois Florida (Adidas Invitational Tournament at Winthrop University) – (1 p.m.)
March 15 – vs. UNCW Florida (Adidas Invitational Tournament at Winthrop University) – (9 a.m.)
2009 Softball Schedule
