#1 Orange Takes On UMass, #13 Stanford

No. 1 Syracuse (12-0, 4-0 BIG EAST) at Massachusetts (5-8, 0-1 A-10)
Game Details	Thursday, Oct. 11 \| Amherst, Mass. \| 1 p.m. Garber Field \| Directions
Game Coverage	Watch \| Live Stats Twitter: @Cuse \| #cusefh
Syracuse Links	Game Notes \| Roster \| Schedule
UMass Links	Roster \| Schedule

No. 1 Syracuse (12-0, 4-0 BIG EAST) vs. No. 13 Stanford (9-4, 3-0 NorPac)
Game Details	Friday, Oct. 12 \| Amherst, Mass. \| 4 p.m. Garber Field \| Directions
Game Coverage	Twitter: @Cuse \| #cusefh
Syracuse Links	Game Notes \| Roster \| Schedule
Stanford Links	Roster \| Schedule

SYRACUSE, N.Y. - The No. 1 ranked Syracuse field hockey team (12-0, 4-0 BIG EAST) heads to Amherst, Mass. this week to face Massachusetts (5-8, 0-1 A-10) on Thursday at 1 p.m. and No. 13 Stanford (9-4, 3-0 NorPac) on Friday at 4 p.m. Both games will be played at UMass' Garber Field.
• The Orange is ranked No. 1 in the Penn Monto/NFHCA Division I Coaches Poll for the third consecutive week. After a No. 7 preseason ranking, Syracuse was ranked No. 2 for three weeks in a row previously.
• Syracuse is coming off a 3-0 victory at Providence on Saturday.
• Syracuse is one of just two remaining undefeated teams in the NCAA Division I (Connecticut, 13-0), and is responsible for the lone loss of two out of the three one-loss teams in the country.

GAME COVERAGE
• Thursday's game will be webcast live on UMass All-Access at UMassAthletics.com. A link to free live stats is available at SUAthletics.com.
• Fans can also follow the the Orange on Twitter.com/cuse, the official Twitter home of Syracuse Athletics, or search #cusefh, as well as on Facebook at Facebook.com/SUfieldhockey.

BRADLEY NEARS MILESTONE
• Sixth year head coach Ange Bradley enters the weekend with a 99-22 record in 121 games at Syracuse. A win would make her the second-fastest Syracuse coach in any current varsity sport to reach the milestone. Men's basketball coach Jim Boeheim won his 100th game in his 117th overall game. Men's lacrosse head coach John Desko is next 133 games to get his 100th win, and former men's lacrosse coach Laurie Cox would become fourth with 139 games.
• Bradley is 234-83-2 overall in her career (16th season).

STRONG STARTERS
• The Orange has started 12-0 for the second time in program history.
• The last time SU started 12-0 was in 2008 when it went on to start 14-0 on the way to a BIG EAST Championship and NCAA Final Four appearance.

THREE WEEKS AT NO. 1
• For the first time in program history, Syracuse is ranked No. 1 in the country for three consecutive weeks.
• Following its 2-0 win at No. 3 Princeton on Sept. 23, the Syracuse field hockey team took over the No. 1 ranking in the country for the first time since 2008 in the Penn Monto/NFHCA Division I Coaches Poll released on Sept. 24.
• The Orange had been ranked No. 2 for three straight weeks following its 1-0 overtime win over then-No. 2 North Carolina on Sept. 1, but head coach Ange Bradley's squad takes over the top spot from those same Tar Heels after knocking another top-three opponent from the ranks of the unbeaten with a 2-0 win at No. 3 Princeton on Sept. 23.
• Syracuse garnered 803 total points this week, including 28 first-place votes. The Orange is followed by No. 2 North Carolina (14-1) with 774 points and 10 first-place votes, No. 3 Princeton (10-1) with 710 points and No. 4 Connecticut (13-0) with 684 points and two first-place votes.
• It is the Orange field hockey team's first No. 1 ranking since Oct. 14, 2008 when it reached the top spot for the first time in program history when it was 14-0 and the only undefeated team in the country. Syracuse finished that season 22-2 overall with a Final Four appearance.
• The last Syracuse program to be ranked No. 1 in a major poll was men's basketball holding the top spot in both the Associated Press and USA Today/ESPN polls from Dec. 12, 2011 to Jan. 16, 2012.

TOP STREAK REACHES 49 WEEKS
• The Orange has now been ranked in the top 10 of the NFHCA poll for 49-straight weeks, dating back to Aug. 28, 2008.
• The Orange was ranked No. 7 in the preseason and climbed to second for three weeks and has been No. 1 for three weeks.
• Syracuse debuted at No. 5 in the poll in 2011 and spent nine of 11 weeks in that fifth position before finishing the season ranked No. 3 in the final poll.

VS. RANKED OPPONENTS
• Syracuse is 38-51 against ranked teams since 2007, but is an impressive 12-4 in its last 16. SU is 5-0 against ranked teams in 2012 and was 7-4 last season, including a 3-2 win over No. 4 Connecticut in the BIG EAST Championship game.
• The Orange is 17-31 against top 10 teams since 2007.

SERIES VS. UMASS
• Syracuse is 15-5-1 all-time against Massachusetts and has won 13 of the last 14 meetings.
• Last season, the Orange beat the Minutewomen, 2-0, at home on Oct. 2. Heather Susek and Amy Kee each scored goals with Kelsey Millman assisting on both. The Orange outshot UMass, 23-2.
• The last time the teams played in Amherst was also the first time the Minutewomen beat the Orange since 1998, a 2-0 UMass win on Oct. 3, 2010. Jaime Bourazeris and Molly MacDonnell scored for the goals.
• SU is 6-5-1 against UMass in Amherst.

SCOUTING THE MINUTEWOMEN
• UMass comes into the game with a 5-8 overall record and a 0-1 mark in Atlantic 10 play.
• The Minutewomen are coming off a 1-0 loss in their conference opener at No. 22 Richmond on Saturday. UMass lost at home to No. 3 UConn, 2-0, the previous Wednesday.
• UMass has wins over four ranked opponents: No. 18 New Hampshire (2-1 OT), No. 15 Ohio State (2-1 OT), No. 17 Boston College (2-1 OT) and No. 24 Maine (4-2).
• Senior Kim Young leads UMass with seven goals and 16 points on the season. The Sidney, N.Y. native is the sister of SU volunteer assistant Mike Young. Fellow senior Nicole Cordero has added six goals.
• Freshman Sam Carlino has seen most of the minutes in goal, posting a 5-8 record, 2.11 goals against average and .663 save percentage.
• Carla Tagliente is in her second season as head coach. The 2001 Maryland alum was a four-time All-American with Terps and is a originally from Cortland, N.Y.

SERIES VS. STANFORD
• Syracuse is 4-0 all-time against Stanford in a series that dates back to 1997.
• The Orange defeated the Cardinal, 2-1 in overtime , in the last meeting on Oct. 15, 2010 in Albany. Heather Susek scored the OT winner after Amy Kee tied the game in the second half. Leonie Geyer set up Susek's goal.
• The previous meetings were on Sept. 4, 2005, a 3-2 overtime win in Palo Alto; on Sept. 6, 2002, a 3-0 win at home; and Sept. 14, 1997, a 1-0 win at Cal.

SCOUTING THE CARDINAL
• No. 13 Stanford comes into the game with a 9-4 overall record and a 3-0 mark in NorPac play.
• The Cardinal is coming off three-straight wins: at Pacific (4-1), vs. UC Davis (5-0) and at Cal (2-1).
• Stanford has a pair of wins over ranked teams: 3-2 vs. No. 10 Iowa on Sept. 7 and 2-1 vs. No. 18 Drexel on Sept. 9.
• Junior Courtney Haldeman leads the Cardinal with eight goals, while senior Becky Dru leads the club with seven assists and 19 points to go along with six goals.
• Freshman Dulcie Davies has played every minute in goal, going 9-4 with a 1.57 goals against average and .696 save percentage.
• Tara Danielson is in her third season as head coach, posting a 41-14 overall record and two NCAA appearances. She is a 1994 UMass alum, where she led the Minutewomen to four straight NCAA Tournaments, and is native of Deerfield, Mass.

BIG EAST DOMINANCE
• Syracuse's current senior class is 21-1 in BIG EAST Conference games, including perfect 6-0 marks in 2009 and 2010, and has outscored its conference foes, 103-23.
• The Orange is 29-5 in BIG EAST games under Ange Bradley.
• 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.

STIVER STYMIES OFFENSES
• Senior goalkeeper Leann Stiver is off to the hottest start in the country in 2012. She is 12-0 with a .875 save percentage and a 0.44 goals against average, allowing just five goals in 797 minutes and 11 seconds of play.
• Stiver leads the NCAA in goals against average, save percentage and shutouts (8).
• She has eight shutouts on the season, two of which have come against the top two scoring offenses in the country, North Carolina and Princeton.
• Stiver has shut out the last five opponents, running her streak without allowing a goal to 381 minutes, dating back to Sept. 16.
• With SU's 1-0 overtime win vs. No. 2 North Carolina (9/1), Stiver became the first goalie since 2009 to shut out the Tar Heels.
• The Amherst, N.Y. native entered the season as the NCAA active leader in career save percentage and in the top five in goals against average.

AMONG THE NATION'S BEST
• Syracuse ranks among the nation's best in several statistical categories. The Orange currently boasts the best defense in the country, allowing just 0.50 goals per game, and has the fifth-highest scoring offense in the country at 4.25 goals per game, combining to give Syracuse the second-best scoring margin in the NCAA (+3.72).
• The Orange defense, led by backs Anna Crumb, Laura Hahnefeldt and Iona Holloway, and anchored by goalkeeper Leann Stiver, has posted eight shutouts this season, two more than anyone else in the country, and five in a row. Two shutouts have come against the top two scoring teams in the country (UNC & Princeton).
• Moving the ball is the name of the game for the Orange offense as it ranks No. 4 in the NCAA in assists per game (3.42) and Liz McInerney is tied for 15th-most individually with .67 per game.

BALANCED ATTACK
• Despite having the third highest scoring average in the country (4.25 goals), the Orange does not have an individual goal-scorer in the NCAA top 30. Its top scorers, Lauren Brooks and Kelsey Millman with eight each, are tied for 37th on the NCAA goal scoring list.
• There are not one or two threats that opposing defenses can focus on when facing Syracuse. The Orange's 51 goals this season are spread over 11 different players, with nine having multiple goals and seven having five or more. Eight players have four or more goals.
• SU's leading scorers, Brooks and Millman, each represent 15.6 percent of the team's scoring. By contrast, NCAA scoring leader Kathleen Sharkey of Princeton accounts for 42.9 percent of the Tigers' goals (21 of 49).

LAST TIME OUT
• Leonie Geyer, Kelsey Millman and Stephanie Hussey scored a goal each and Leann Stiver recorded her fifth straight shutout in goal to lead No. 1 Syracuse to a 3-0 win at Providence at Lennon Family Field on Saturday.
• Stiver made six saves to run her consecutive shutout minutes streak to 381, dating back to Sept. 16.
• Millman, the Orange's senior captain, played a hand in both of Syracuse's first-half goals, assisting on the first and scoring the second.

MILLMAN & STIVER HONORED
• Seniors Kelsey Millman and Leann Stiver were named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll on Monday for their efforts in the Orange's 3-0 victory at Providence.
• Millman, the Orange's senior captain, played a hand in both of Syracuse's first-half goals, assisting on the first and scoring the second, as the nation's top-ranked team took control early. She is tied with line-mate Lauren Brooks for the team lead with eight goals.
• Stiver made six saves to run her consecutive shutout minutes streak to 381, dating back to Sept. 16 vs. Kent State. The senior leads the nation in both goals against average (0.44) and save percentage (.875). The five shutouts in a row are tied for the second longest streak in program history. Syracuse had six straight to start the 1997 season.
• They represent the sixth and seventh time Syracuse has had someone on the BIG EAST Honor Roll this season.

FOLLOW ORANGE FIELD HOCKEY
• Fans can receive up-to-the-minute updates and news on Syracuse field hockey by following the "liking" the Orange on Facebook (Facebook.com/SUfieldhockey) or on the SUAthletics Twitter page @Cuse and by searching ##cusefh.

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