Orange, UMass Meet In NCAA First Round

NCAA FIRST ROUND No. 5 Syracuse (17-2) vs. No. 16 Massachusetts (15-8)
Game Details	Saturday, Nov. 10 \| University Park, Pa. \| 2 p.m. Penn State Field Hockey Complex \| Tickets \| Directions
Game Coverage	NCAA Championship Central \| Bracket Live Stats Twitter: @Cuse \| #cusefh Facebook: /SUFieldHockey
Syracuse Links	Game Notes \| Roster \| Schedule \| Stats
UMass Links	Roster \| Schedule \| Stats

SYRACUSE, N.Y. - The No. 5 Syracuse field hockey team (17-2) will play No. 16 Massachusetts (14-8) in the NCAA Tournament first round on Saturday, Nov. 10 in University Park, Pa. at 2 p.m. The winner will play the winner of host and No. 3 Penn State (17-3) and No. 17 Albany (13-7) on Sunday at 2 p.m.

• BIG EAST Coach of the Year Ange Bradley's Orange will be making its fifth-straight NCAA appearance and eighth in program history.
• Syracuse, the BIG EAST regular season champion (6-0), enters the tournament with a 17-2 overall record, including wins over current No. 1 North Carolina (1-0 OT on Sept. 1), No. 2 Princeton (2-0 on Sept. 23) and No. 4 Connecticut (3-2 on Oct. 27). The Orange is 8-1 vs. ranked teams on the season, the lone loss being to UConn, 4-3, in the BIG EAST championship game on Nov. 4.
• This is the third time SU has played at Penn State in the NCAAs (1993, 2010).

GAME COVERAGE
• Free live stats will also be available via NCAA.com. A link will be provided at SUAthletics.com.
• Fans can also follow 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.

SU IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
• The Orange is making its fifth straight NCAA appearance and eighth overall. It enters the 2012 tourney with a 7-7 all-time record.
• Syracuse has also made NCAA appearances in 1993, 1995, 2001, 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011. It has advanced to the quarterfinals in three straight seasons and five time overall, while making one Final Four appearance in 2008.
• SU went 1-1 last season, winning its first round game vs. Richmond, 2-0, before falling to host and eventual national champion Maryland in the second round, 3-2 in overtime.
• The Orange played at Penn State in the 2010 NCAA Tournament, beating the host Nittany Lions in the first round, 2-1 in overtime, before losing to Ohio State in the second round, 3-2 in overtime.
• The current Orange senior class is 3-3 with three second round appearances.
• Syracuse is 5-4 in NCAA Tournament games under Ange Bradley.

REGULAR SEASON SUCCESS
• Syracuse's 16-1 regular season record tied the program record for fewest losses with 2008, when SU went 18-1 before finishing 22-2 in the Final Four. 2012 is also the second-best winning percentage (.941) behind only 2008 (.947).
• The Orange started the season 12-0, the second-best start 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.

BRADLEY REACHES MILESTONE
• Head Coach Ange Bradley recorded her 100th win at Syracuse with a 4-1 victory vs. No. 13 Stanford on Oct. 12 in Amherst, Mass., reaching the milestone in just her 123rd game, making her the second-fastest in Syracuse history in any current varsity sport behind men's basketball coach Jim Boeheim (117 games) and ahead of the men's lacrosse coach John Desko (133 games).
• Now in her sixth season with the Orange, Bradley is currently 104-24 at Syracuse and 239-85-2 overall in her 16-year career.

ORANGE AT NO. 5
• Syracuse is ranked No. 5 this week in the Penn Monto/NFHCA Division I Coaches Poll.
• The Orange was No. 3 for three straight weeks in the poll after spending the previous three weeks at No. 1.

TOP 10 STREAK REACHES 53 WEEKS
• The Orange has now been ranked in the top 10 of the NFHCA poll for 53-straight weeks, dating back to Aug. 28, 2008.
• The Orange was ranked No. 1 for three weeks this season after spending three weeks at No. 2 and debuting at No. 7 in the preseason poll.
• Syracuse was No. 5 in the preseason 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 8-1 against ranked teams this season.
• Syracuse is 41-52 against ranked teams since 2007, but is an impressive 15-5 in its last 20. SU is 8-1 in 2012 and was 7-4 last season, including a 3-2 win over No. 4 Connecticut in the BIG EAST Championship game.
• SU has defeated each of the current top three teams in the country in RPI (UNC, Princeton, UConn).
• The only loss to a ranked team this season was to No. 5 UConn, 4-3 in the BIG EAST Championship.
• The Orange is 17-32 against top 10 teams since 2007.

SERIES VS. UMASS
• The first round game will be a rematch of 2-1 Minutewomen victory in Amherst on Oct. 11, the Orange's only regular season loss. UMass went on to win the Atlantic 10 Championship, defeating Richmond in the final, 5-0. UMass then beat Northeast Conference champion Rider, 2-1, in a play-in game on Tuesday afternoon to make the 16-team field.
• The Orange and Minutewomen last met in the NCAA Tournament on Nov. 15, 2008 with the Orange winning 3-2 on its way to its only Final Four appearance.
• All-time, Syracuse leads the series with UMass, 15-6-1, winning 13 of the last 15 meetings.

FAMILIAR FACES
• Syracuse 2008 All-American and 2012 Olympian Shannon Taylor is in her first season as an assistant coach with the Minutewomen.
• Syracuse assistant coach Steve Simpson was an assistant at UMass from 1995-2003.
• SU volunteer assistant Mike Young is the brother of UMass points leader Kim Young (13 goals, 7 assists).

SERIES VS. ALBANY
• Syracuse is 11-1 all-time against the Great Danes with the Orange winning the last five meetings.
• The teams last played a regular season game on Oct. 5, 2011, a 3-2 SU win at Coyne Stadium. Kelsey Millman scored the game-winner with 5:21 remaining. Amy Kee and Heather Susek also scored for the Orange.
• The Orange and Great Danes met in a preseason scrimmage on Aug. 16 of this yearat Coyne Stadium. SU outscored Albany, 7-3, over three 20-minute periods. Iona Holloway and Millman scored two goals each.

SERIES VS. PENN STATE
• Syracuse is 2-24-1 against the Nittany Lions all-time, but one of those two wins came when the teams last met in the 2010 NCAA Tournament in Happy Valley.
• Lindsey Conrad scored the overtime winner in SU's 2-1 victory in the NCAA first round on Nov. 13, 2010. Iona Holloway scored the other Orange goal, while Daneen Zug scored for Penn State.

BIG EAST DOMINANCE
• Syracuse's current senior class went 23-1 in BIG EAST Conference games, including perfect 6-0 marks in 2009, 2010 and 2012, and outscored its foes, 113-27.
• The Orange is 31-5 in BIG EAST games under Ange Bradley.
• Syracuse won its eighth BIG EAST regular season title and third in the last four years in 2012, going 6-0.

RECORD TOTAL OF BIG EAST AWARDS
• Head Coach Ange Bradley and senior Iona Holloway were named BIG EAST Coach of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year, respectively, as the Orange claimed nine total honors as the conference announced its field hockey awards at the annual banquet on Nov. 1.
• In addition to Holloway and Bradley's top honors, Syracuse had a program-record seven players named All-BIG EAST.
• Holloway, a senior back, was joined on the All-BIG EAST First Team by junior midfielder Leonie Geyer, junior back Laura Hahnefeldt and senior forward Kelsey Millman. Geyer was the conference's only unanimous selection.
• Graduate student midfielder Liz McInerney, sophomore midfielder Jordan Page and senior goalkeeper Leann Stiver were all named to the All-BIG EAST Second Team.

STIVER STYMIES OFFENSES
• Senior goalkeeper Leann Stiver has firmly established herself as one of the top goalkeepers in the country in 2012. She is 17-2 with a .750 save percentage and a 1.01 goals against average, allowing just 18 goals in 1,252 minutes and 11 seconds of play.
• Stiver leads the NCAA in shutouts (8) and goals against average, while ranking 18th in save percentage.
• 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 shutout five opponents in row between Sept. 21 and Oct. 6, posting a streak of 437 minutes and 19 seconds of consecutive shutout play.
• 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 third-best defense in the country, allowing just 1.05 goals per game, and has the fourth-highest scoring offense in the country at 4.0 goals per game, combining to give Syracuse the third-best scoring margin in the NCAA (+2.93).
• 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, tied for tops in the country, and at one point had 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. 5 in the NCAA in assists per game (3.05).

BALANCED ATTACK
• Despite having the fourth-highest scoring average in the country (4.10 goals), the Orange does not have an individual goal-scorer in the NCAA top 30. Its top scorers, Kelsey Millman, with 12 goals, is tied for 38th 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 76 goals this season are spread over 13 different players, with 10 having four or more.
• SU's leading scorer, Millman, represents 15.8 percent of the team's scoring. By contrast, NCAA scoring leader Kathleen Sharkey of Princeton (1.71 goals per game) accounts for 36.3 percent of the Tigers' goals (29 of 80).

CLIMBING THE ALL-TIME LISTS
• Several of the Orange are solidifying their spots among the best in program history.
• WIth 90 career points, senior Kelsey Millman is currently eighth in program history. Next up is No. 7 Kristin Aronowicz (1999-01) with 91.
• With 28 career assists, junior Leonie Geyer is currently tied for fifth all-time at SU with Julie Williamson (1991-94). Next up is Sherri Magsam (1986-89) in four place with 34.
• Senior goalie Leann Stiver has 20 shutouts in her career, ranking fourth all-time at Syracuse. Audrey Latsko (1999-02) is third with 21. Stiver's career goals against average of 1.13 is the second-best in program history, behind Cheri Herr's (1992-95) 1.00.
• Stiver's eight shutouts this season is tied for the fourth-highest single-season total in SU history.

Syracuse University Athletics

Next Event

Related Videos