Syracuse University
#16 Princeton
Final Four Bound!
11/15/2015 4:32:00 PM | Field Hockey
Orange reaches national semifinal for third time in four years
SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The Syracuse field hockey team (19-1) advanced to its third final four in four years behind a dominant 5-0 win over No. 16 Princeton (11-7) at J.S. Coyne Stadium on Saturday.
Liz Sack and ACC Offensive Player of the Year Alma Fenne each scored twice in the win, which was Syracuse's seventh shutout of the year. For Sack, it was her third and fourth goals of the NCAA Tournament thus far after netting just three through the previous 18 games of the season.
Senior captains Emma Russell, Jess Jecko and Alyssa Manley became the first class in program history to make three final four appearances in their career with the win. It's the fourth final four appearance in program history for the Orange, all-four coming in head coach Ange Bradley's tenure at Syracuse.
"Statistically we dominated today," Bradley said. "We had opportunities on the backside, pretty much like yesterday, but today we were able to finish. We moved really well, it was the same stats as yesterday but we got more on the backend."
Sack got Syracuse on the board just 3:09 into the game. She took a pass from Serra Degnan into the circle and fired a low shot past Tigers' goalkeeper Anya Gersoff into the far corner.
The Havertown, Pa. native scored again from in front with just over 20 minutes to go in the half. She positioned herself in front of Gersoff and chipped a hard pass from Fenne up in to the top of the cage for the game's second score.
Fenne then upped Syracuse's lead to three heading into the locker room when she drove past two Princeton defenders into the circle and rifled a backhand shot across Gersoff's body and into the net for the goal.
The three first-half goals was the best offensive output by the Orange since the team scored five in the first-35 minutes against No. 6 Wake Forest on Oct. 17.
However, halftime wouldn't stop the offensive onslaught. For the second day in a row, Syracuse came out of the locker room firing, and finding the scoreboard in the first-five minutes of play.
Roos Weers sent a long stretch pass from just the other side of the midfield line through the Princeton defense and into the circle, which Fenne collected and scored on a breakaway goal. It was the 16th goal of the season for the team-leading scorer, who's averaging more than 2.3 points per game since the calendar flipped to October.
Russell then got into the scoring act off a corner with 17 minutes to play, when Weers past to the senior forward who was standing up against the near post. Russell shot past Gersoff for the final tally and sent the Orange onto Ann Arbor, Michgan.
'Cuse tallied 28 shots to the Tigers' six, with Jecko turning away both Princeton shots on cage. Gersoff managed to have a strong afternoon in net for the Tigers, stopping 13 shots, one shy of her career high.
Next, Syracuse will take on No. 3 UConn in the NCAA Semifinal matchup on Friday, Nov. 20 at either Noon or 2:45 p.m. on the campus of the University of Michigan. That contest will be a rematch of last year's title game.
