SU Battles Richmond In NCAA First Round

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	Roster	Schedule	Season Stats	Game Notes
	Roster	Schedule	Season Stats	Game Notes

The third-ranked Syracuse field hockey team (18-3) returns to the NCAA Tournament for the fourth consecutive season this weekend when the Orange take on Richmond on Saturday at 11:30 a.m. in College Park, Md.

Syracuse, the No. 3 overall seed in the tournament, will take on the Spiders for the third time in program history. Host Maryland and Iowa will play in the second game at 2:00 p.m., with the winners squaring off on Sunday with an opportunity to advance to the Final Four.

Syracuse earned an automatic bid into the national tournament with a 3-2 win against top-seeded Connecticut in the BIG EAST Championship game last weekend, while Richmond, winners of the Atlantic 10 title, defeated Cal in a play-in game on Tuesday, 2-0.

SU In The NCAA Tournament
This weekend marks the seventh time in program history that Syracuse has advanced to the NCAA Tournament, and fourth in as many seasons.

SU also reached the national tournament in 2010, 2009, 2008, 2001, 1995 and 1993. The Orange made it to the National Semifinal in 2008. After going 1-1 last season in University Park, Pa., the Orange is 6-6 (.500) all-time in national tournament play.

Bradley Faces Former Team
Fifth-year head coach Ange Bradley faces Richmond for the first time this weekend since arriving in Syracuse in 2007. Bradley spent six seasons with the Spiders from 2001-06 with a record of 96-36.

During her time in Richmond, Bradley's teams won five consecutive Atlantic 10 Tournament Championships and earned five invitations the NCAA Tournament. The Spiders were also 42-0 in conference play under Bradley's watch.

Bradley also has connections to the other two teams in the region, Maryland and Iowa. She was an assistant for the Terrapins from 1997-2000, where Bradley helped Maryland win the 1999 NCAA Championship.

As an assistant coach with Iowa from 1995-96, Bradley was part of Hawkeye teams that captured two regular-season Big Ten Championships and earned two national tournament invitations.

Foreign Flair
This season's Orange roster features six student-athletes from outside of the United States. Leonie Geyer and Laura Hahnefeldt come to Syracuse from Germany, Amy Kee from England, Iona Holloway from Glasgow, Martina Loncarica from Argentina and Liz McInerney from Ireland.

All six student-athletes have had a significant impact on Syracuse's success to this point in the season. Hahnefeldt, Holloway, Kee and McInerney have paced a defense that has a goals against average of 1.06 this season. McInerney has also contributed on the offensive side of the field, tallying five goals and 11 assists.

Loncarica is the program's all-time leader in points (138) and assists, and Geyer has scored 10 goals and added 10 assists this season.

BIG EAST SUccess
Syracuse won its sixth BIG EAST Championship tournament title on Nov. 6 with a 3-2 victory against Connecticut. After going 5-1 in BIG EAST play during the regular season, the Orange secured the No. 2 seed in the conference tournament.

SU shutout No. 3 seed Villanova in the semifinals, 3-0 before defeating top-seeded Connecticut, 3-2, in the championship game. Syracuse has also won seven BIG EAST regular season championships, the last coming in 2010.

Series Notes With Richmond
This will be the third meeting between the Orange and the Spiders, with Richmond holding a 2-0 advantage overall.

The first meeting between the two teams occurred in 2002 where Syracuse lost at Richmond, 0-1. In 2004, the Spiders traveled to Syracuse for an early season matchup. The Orange performed well, with senior Betsy Wagner recording 13 saves, but two first half goals were the decisive factor in the Spider's 2-0 triumph.

Scouting The Spiders
The Spiders (16-6, 5-1) are coming into the NCAA Tournament after beating Temple 1-0 to win the Atlantic-10 Tournament, and beating California 2-0 in the NCAA Play-In Game. Richmond is currently on a eight-game winning streak.

Senior forward Katelin Peterson leads the team in points with 43, goals with 16, and assists with 11. She has also tallied seven game-winning-goals for the Spiders.

In the cage for Richmond will be sophomore Anna Zarkoski, who has started in 20 out of the 21 games for the Spiders this season. She owns a 1.00 goals-against-average (fourth in the nation), a .813 save percentage (first in the nation), and has shutout seven teams this season.

Gina Lucido is in the midst of her fifth season as the head coach of the Spiders. This season marks the second time Lucido has brought Richmond to the NCAA Tournament. Lucido's first NCAA Tournament berth occurred in 2009, after Richmond had claimed the Atlantic-10 regular season championship.

Syracuse University Athletics

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