Field Hockey Opens Season at Asics Invitational

No. 5 Syracuse (0-0) vs. Quinnipiac (0-0)
Game Details	Friday, Aug. 30 \| Hempstead, N.Y. \| 2 p.m. Hofstra Field Hockey Stadium \| Directions
Game Coverage	Live Stats Twitter: @CuseFH \| @Cuse
Syracuse Links	Roster \| Schedule
Quinnipiac Links	Roster \| Schedule

No. 5 Syracuse (0-0) vs. Hofstra (0-0) or La Salle (0-0)
Game Details	Sunday, Sept. 1 \| Hempstead, N.Y. \| 11:30 a.m. or 2 p.m. Hofstra Field Hockey Stadium \| Directions
Game Coverage	Live Stats Twitter: @CuseFH \| @Cuse
Syracuse Links	Roster \| Schedule
Hofstra Links	Roster \| Schedule
La Salle Links	Roster \| Schedule

Follow @CuseFH

SYRACUSE - The No. 5 Syracuse field hockey team opens the 2013 season this weekend at the Asics Invitational in Hempstead, N.Y. Head coach Ange Bradley's Orange opens up with Quinnipiac on Friday at 2 p.m. and will meet either host Hofstra or La Salle on Sunday at 11:30 a.m. or 2 p.m.
• Coming off one of the most successful seasons in program history - going 19-3, winning the BIG EAST regular season title, spending three weeks at No. 1 in the country and advancing to the program's second Final Four - the Orange makes the move to the ACC in 2013 with a squad that includes 10 newcomers.

GAME COVERAGE
• Live stats of both games will be available at SUathletics.com via links from GoHofstra.com.
• Live audio of both Hofstra games will be available online at GoHofstra.com, courtesy of WRHU 88.7 radio.
• Fans can also follow the Orange on Twitter.com/CuseFH, the official Twitter home of Syracuse Field Hockey, or on Facebook at Facebook.com/SUfieldhockey.

IN OPENERS
• Syracuse is 26-15 all-time in season openers, including a perfect 6-0 under Ange Bradley. The Orange is 13-4 in season openers since 1996.
• Last season, SU opened with a 8-1 win at Monmouth. In 2011, the Orange opened at home vs. Monmouth, winning 4-0. In 2010, SU defeated Northwestern, 6-1, at Coyne.
• Syracuse has started the season 2-0 in five out of six seasons under Bradley. Last year SU outscored the opposition 14-1 in its opening weekend. The lone 1-1 year was 2011, when SU dropped its second game at North Carolina, 3-2.

ORANGE AT NO. 5
• Syracuse is ranked No. 5 in the Penn Monto/NFHCA Division I Preseason Coaches Poll, released on Aug. 27.
• SU finished 2012 ranked No. 5 after the Orange was No. 3 for three straight weeks in the poll after spending the previous three weeks at No. 1.

TOP STREAK REACHES 54 WEEKS
• The Orange has now been ranked in the top 10 of the NFHCA poll for 54-straight weeks, dating back to Aug. 28, 2008.
• SU's No. 5 ranking in the preseason poll ran the streak to 54 weeks.
• The Orange was ranked No. 1 for three weeks in 2012 after spending three weeks at No. 2 and debuting at No. 7 in the preseason poll.

SERIES HISTORIES
• Syracuse is 4-0 all-time against Quinnipiac. The last meeting was a 2-1 Orange win on Sept. 7, 2006.
• SU is 12-2 all-time against Hofstra. The last meeting was a 2-1 Orange win on Sept. 16, 2007 at Coyne Stadium. The Pride's last win was 2-1 in triple overtime on Sept. 19, 2004 in Hempstead, N.Y.
• Syracuse is 0-1 against La Salle. The only game against the Explorers was on Sept. 19, 1982 in Ithaca, 6-1.

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, 2012 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 seventh season with the Orange, Bradley is currently 106-25 (.809) at Syracuse and 241-86-2 (.736)overall in her 17-year career.

VS. RANKED OPPONENTS
• Syracuse went 10-2 against ranked teams in 2012.
• Syracuse is 43-53 against ranked teams since 2007, but is an impressive 17-6 in its last 23. SU was 10-2 in 2012 and was 7-4 in 2011.
• In the last year, SU has wins over three of the top four teams in this season's preseason poll (North Carolina, Princeton and Connecticut).
• The only loss to a ranked team in 2012 were to No. 5 UConn, 4-3 in the BIG EAST Championship and to No. 1 North Carolina in the national semifinals.
• The Orange is 18-33 against top 10 teams since 2007.

NEW LOOK ORANGE
• Syracuse welcomes 10 newcomers to the ranks in 2013, including a talented freshman class of nine.
• The lone non-frosh newcomer is graduate student Sarah Kerly. The quick and skilled forward from Canterbury, England is the daughter of English hockey legend and Olympic gold-medalist Sean Kerly.
• The highly-talented freshman class is composed of: midfielder Megan Bupp (Lancaster, Pa.), goalkeeper Rebecca Congel (Englewood, Colo.), forward Serra Degnan (Wyoming, Pa.), midfielder Taylor Evans (Coorparoo, Australia), forward Karlee Farr (Mount Joy, Pa.), forward Kat Huber (Darien, Conn.), back Lindsey Nerbonne (Bow, N.H.), forward Liz Sack (Havertown, Pa.) and goalkeeper Regan Spencer (Midlothian, Va.).

AWARD-WINNING RETURNERS
• Despite so many new players, Syracuse returns an extremely strong core of veteran players, which includes six starters from last season.
• Leading the way is first team All-American senior defender Laura Hahnefeldt. The Mid-East Region Player of the Year scored four goals and assisted on three others while leading the SU defense in 2012.
• Leading the midfield line is All-Region selection Leonie Geyer. The senior had eight goals and seven assists in 2012 and was the BIG EAST's lone unanimous All-Conference selection.
• Junior forward Lauren Brooks is the Orange's top returning scorer. Her 12 goals last season was second on the team.
• All-BIG EAST midfielder Jordan Page led SU in assists with 12 as sophomore in 2012 while also adding nine goals for 30 points, most among returners.
• The other returning starters are senior back Anna Crumb and sophomore forward Emma Russell, who scored nine goals last year and was named BIG EAST All-Freshman Team.

PASSING THE TORCH IN GOAL
• For the first time since 2009 and just the second time since 2005, Syracuse will have a new regular starting goalkeeper. Sophomore Jess Jecko looks to carry on the strong Orange goalkeeping tradition, most recently passed down from four-year starter Leann Stiver (2009-12) and Heather Hess before her (2005-08).
• Joining Jecko in SU's goalkeeping group are freshmen Rebecca Congel and Regan Spencer.
• For more on the Orange's goalkeeping transition, read the SUathletics.com feature "Passing the Torch."

FAREWELL BIG EAST
• Syracuse's 2012 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 went 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.

HELLO ACC!
• Syracuse plays its inaugural season in the Atlantic Coast Conference in 2013. The Orange brings the nation's premier field hockey conference's total of programs to seven.
• All seven ACC teams are ranked in the NFHCA Preseason Top 20, including three of the top five (No. 1 North Carolina, No. 2 Maryland and No. 5 Syracuse).
• ACC teams have won 10 out of the last 11 national championships and had at least one team in the title game for each of the last 14 years.

2012 FINAL FOUR RUN
• Syracuse is coming off a monumental 2012 season in which it went 19-3 overall, including a perfect 6-0 in its final BIG EAST season, spent three weeks at No. 1 and advanced to the Final Four.
• Syracuse reached the Final Four by defeating No. 16 Massachusetts, 4-2, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament and No. 3 Penn State, 5-2, in the second round. Both games were at Penn State.
• 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.

Syracuse University Athletics

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