#6 Orange Hosts #7 UMass, Ohio State

No. 6 Syracuse (4-0) vs. No. 7 Massachusetts (5-0)
Game Details	Friday, Sept. 13 \| Syracuse, N.Y. \| 3 p.m. J.S. Coyne Stadium \| Directions
Game Coverage	Live Stats Twitter: @cuseFH \| @cuse
Syracuse Links	Roster \| Schedule \| Statistics
Massachusetts Links	Roster \| Schedule \| Statistics

No. 6 Syracuse (4-0) vs. Ohio State (2-2)
Game Details	Sunday, Sept. 15 \| Syracuse, N.Y. \| 2 p.m. J.S. Coyne Stadium \| Directions
Game Coverage	Live Stats Twitter: @cuseFH \| @cuse
Syracuse Links	Roster \| Schedule \| Statistics
Ohio State Links	Roster \| Schedule \| Statistics

Follow @CuseFH

SYRACUSE, N.Y. - The No. 6 Syracuse field hockey team (4-0) returns to the friendly confines of J.S. Coyne Stadium for its home-opening weekend when it hosts No. 7 Massachusetts (5-0) on Friday at 3 p.m. and Ohio State (2-2) on Sunday at 2 p.m.

• The Minutewomen and Buckeyes will play each other at Coyne Stadium on Saturday at 2:30 p.m.

• The Orange is off to a perfect 4-0 start to its 2013 campaign, outscoring its opposition, 19-4. SU opened at the Asics Invitational in Hempstead, N.Y. (8/30-9/1) with wins vs. Quinnipiac (5-1) and Hofstra (4-1), before heading to East Lansing, Mich. last weekend, where it defeated Michigan State (4-0) and Kent State (6-2).

• 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

• Sunday's game vs. Ohio State will be televised live on Time Warner Cable Sports Channel in central, western and northern New York. The game can also be watched online at WatchESPN. Syracuse alum Brian Higgins '04 will be on the call.

• Live stats of both games will be available at SUathletics.com.

• 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.

ORANGE-HOT AT HOME

• The Orange has been dominating at J.S. Coyne Stadium since seventh-year head coach Ange Bradley took the reins in 2007 as it currently rides a 36-game home winning streak dating back to 2009.

• SU has outscored the opposition, 155-29, or an average score of 4.3-0.8, during the winning streak.

• Syracuse is 52-6 (.897) overall, including 36-4 (.900) in non-conference games and 16-2 (.889) in conference games, at home under Bradley (since 2007).

• Last season, SU went 8-0 at home and outscored its opponents, 34-7. In 2011, Syracuse went 13-0 at home and outscored the opposition, 65-9.

• SU's last home loss was on Sept. 6, 2009 vs. No. 7 Princeton, 3-2, in overtime.

ORANGE AT NO. 6

• Despite a 4-0 start to the season with all the wins coming by at least three goals, Syracuse slipped one spot in this week's Penn Monto/NFHCA Division I Coaches Poll to No. 6.

• The Orange started the season ranked No. 5 in the preseason poll.

• 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 10 STREAK REACHES 55 WEEKS

• The Orange has now been ranked in the top 10 of the NFHCA poll for 55-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.

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 week's coaches 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.

SERIES VS. UMASS

• Syracuse is 16-6-1 all-time against Massachusetts, including a 9-1 record at home.

• The Orange defeated the Minutewomen, 4-2, in the NCAA First Round on Nov. 10, 2012 in State College, Pa. The win advanced SU to the second round against Penn State on its way to the Four Four. Lauren Brooks, Kelsey Millman, Jordan Page and Stephanie Hussey scored the Orange goals.

• That SU postseason win avenged the Orange's only regular season loss last season, a 2-1 UMass win on Oct. 11 in Amherst, Mass. that knocked SU out of the No. 1 spot in the country.

• The last time the teams played at Coyne was a 2-0 SU win on Oct. 2, 2011.

SERIES VS. OHIO STATE

• Syracuse is 5-2 all-time against Ohio State, including a 2-1 mark at home.

• The last time the teams met was a 2-0 Orange win on Sept. 9, 2011 in Columbus, Ohio. Kelsey Millman and Liz McInerney scored the SU goals.

• The Buckeyes' last win in the series came 3-2 in overtime in the NCAA Second Round on Nov. 14, 2010 in State College, Pa.

• The last time SU hosted the Buckeyes was on Sept. 4, 2009 with the Orange winning, 3-2 in overtime.

BROOKS' HAT TRICK TOPS KENT STATE

• Junior forward Lauren Brooks scored three goals to lead Syracuse to a 6-2 victory vs. Kent State at Michigan State's Ralph Young Field on Sunday. Sarah Kerly, Lindsey Nerbonne and Tayler Evans all scored their first goals for the Orange in the win.

• Brooks' hat trick, the first of her career, gives the Lancaster, Pa. native a team-leading six on the season and 20 for her career. It is the most goals in a game by a Syracuse player since Leonie Geyer scored four and Heather Susek had three goals in a 12-0 win vs. Vermont on Oct. 16, 2011.

• The Golden Flashes took the early 1-0 lead just 4:41 into the contest when Karleigh Carlin scored from four yards out, but head coach Ange Bradley's Orange would go on to score five in a row to take control and put the game out of reach.

BALANCED ATTACK BEATS SPARTANS

• Four goals by four different scorers led Syracuse to a 4-0 victory at Michigan State (1-3) last Friday at Ralph Young Field. Emma Russell, Leonie Geyer, Lauren Brooks and Karlee Farr scored goals as the Orange controlled play with a 13-3 shot advantage.

• Sophomore goalkeeper Jess Jecko improved to 3-0 on the season while recording her first career shutout.

• Farr closed out the scoring in the 66th minute when the freshman scored an assist by Russell. It was the first collegiate goal for the 2012 Pennsylvania All-State first-teamer out of Mount Joy.

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 has 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, scan the QR code to 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.

AMONG THE NATION'S BEST

• Syracuse ranks among the nation's best in several statistical categories. The Orange currently boasts the fourth-best scoring margin in the country at +3.75, while ranking sixth in scoring average (4.75) and seventh in goals against average (1.00).

• 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 (3.75).

• Going into the week, SU is one of 12 undefeated teams.

GEYER CREATING FOR OTHERS

• The major catalyst of the Orange attack is senior midfielder Leonie Geyer. The Nuess, Germany native is tied for the NCAA lead in assists, averaging 1.5 per game.

• Geyer's two goals and six assists give her a hand in eight of SU's 19 goals this season.

• Geyer has 35 career assists, tied for third in Syracuse history with Shelley Magee (1990-93).

• A 2012 All-BIG EAST first-teamer, she was the conference's only unanimous selection.

Syracuse University Athletics

Related News

Next Event

Related Videos