The First. The Only.
3/31/2021 2:20:00 PM | Field Hockey
Today we celebrate and reflect on the first, and only, Syracuse women's team to win a national championship – the 2015 field hockey team. Visit our Women's History Month page to explore the history of women's athletics at Syracuse University.
One moment in time fueled a national championship run for the Orange field hockey team.
"I remember standing there (in 2014), watching Connecticut celebrate the championship, thinking, 'We only have one more year,'" said Jess Jecko, who was Syracuse's starting goalkeeper from 2013-15. "It hit me really hard. After watching the celebration in 2014, our mindset immediately went to, 'What can we do next year?' From that moment on, our group of seniors and returning players said to ourselves, 'We're winning this next year.'"
The day Jecko remembers was November 23, 2014 – the Orange lost to Connecticut, 1-0, in the national championship game. Syracuse had made history by getting to that stage for the first time in program history. The Orange won 18 games, including a shootout thriller against North Carolina in the national semifinal, to punch their ticket to the championship.
"It was really difficult in the moment," said Emma Russell, Syracuse's all-time leading goal scorer and a junior co-captain on the 2014 squad. "I remember saying to Lauren (Brooks), Kati (Nearhouse) and Jordan (Page), 'I'm really sorry we couldn't do it.'"
While the 2015 Orange had to replace key starters in Brooks, Nearhouse and Page, they returned experienced veterans Alyssa Manley, Russell and Jecko. This trio played in three NCAA tournaments and two Final Fours at Syracuse. This leadership group was poised to use its confidence to rewrite their NCAA tournament story.
"We were so confident that we were going to get back to that same position and hopefully win it this time," Manley said. "There was a weird feeling that whole season because we were so sure in our ability to win. I didn't really feel nerves going into games because we knew what we had to do, and we knew we were going to get it done."
When the Orange arrived home from Maryland after the 2014 Final Four, the team posted a countdown clock in the locker room counting the days to the next national title. Jecko posted a to-do list on her home refrigerator with one task listed: Win the national championship. All focus quickly shifted from the disappointment in 2014 to confidence for 2015.
"Christmas break gave us the chance to reset and refocus our goals," Russell said. "The special thing about the 2015 group was our extreme focus. It's hard to express, but in 2015 we knew we were going to do it."
Syracuse began the 2015 season on a 15-game win streak, including a perfect 10-0 record at J.S. Coyne Stadium. 'Cuse dismantled eight ranked opponents and passed the 2008 team for the longest win streak in program history. Syracuse climbed the polls to be the top-ranked team in the nation. Duke was the final opponent standing in Syracuse's way an undefeated regular season.
"When we went into overtime [at Duke], you could feel the pressure of being undefeated start to hit the team," said head coach Ange Bradley.
"Everyone wants to upset the undefeated team," Jecko said. "But if any team was going to beat us, it was going to be ourselves. We had the skill and talent, so it was up to our execution."
In the 79th minute Orange midfielder Alma Fenne fired a laser past the Duke keeper from six yards out.
"I can still clearly see that goal," Bradley said. "She took the goalkeeper in a one-on-one, and she had great composure as a finisher. That goal took us took us to another place and it popped that bubble of pressure – we did it."
With an unblemished regular season in the books, the Orange entered the next phase on their quest for the national title at the ACC Tournament. Syracuse defeated Virginia in the semifinal to setup the league championship tilt against North Carolina.
The third-ranked Tar Heels entered the game with a 17-2 record and an offense that ranked second in the nation in scoring (81 goals). The Orange had trailed at half in just three games all season – the first of which was against North Carolina earlier in the year. Back in September, UNC challenged SU by jumping out to an early 2-0 lead before Syracuse stormed back in the second half to win 4-2. Now in the ACC Championship game, a familiar scenario awaited the Orange. Once again, Syracuse faced a deficit at halftime. Freshman standout Roos Weers tied the game in the second half on a penalty stroke to force overtime. In the 78th minute, Weers had another penalty stroke opportunity to secure victory, but this time the UNC keeper made a diving save. Less than a minute later, the Tar Heels marched down the field and pocketed their second goal to win the ACC crown and end Syracuse's undefeated run.
"We were very upset that we didn't win the ACC Championship," Manley said. "But it gave us a realization that we weren't invincible. It was a good learning and growing moment for our team."
"UNC played very well, and it was a battle between two really strong teams," Jecko said. "After we lost, we didn't go to the locker room – we stood there and watched [North Carolina] celebrate. [Coach Bradley] told us, 'In two weeks, that's going to be us.'"
Bradley saw a silver lining in the second-place finish.
"I thanked [Roos] for missing that stroke," Bradley said. "I told her, 'If you didn't miss, we wouldn't have the refocus needed for the postseason.' There were some things we needed to do better in our attack to be able to get to that next place."
The locker room countdown clock read just eight days as the NCAA tournament began. The Orange regrouped after their first loss by storming past No. 20 UMass and No. 16 Princeton to secure their third trip to the Final Four in four years. As fate would have it, two familiar faces joined 'Cuse in Ann Arbor – defending-champion UConn in the semifinal and a potential rematch with ACC Champion North Carolina.
"For us, it didn't really matter who we were playing," Russell said. "To us, it was just another game of hockey. It doesn't matter who's on the other side."
The Orange knocked off Connecticut in the national semifinal, 3-1, to set up a rematch with North Carolina in the championship game. As the Orange prepped for a chance at history, fate provided one last piece in the Orange's favor.
"When we got to Michigan and it snowed, that enhanced it even more, 'This is our weekend,'" Bradley said. "It was the perfect storm – having Connecticut and finding Carolina in a big snowstorm. It was just meant to be."
"We train through this weather all the time," Manley said. "This feels like home. It felt calming with the snow around us."
In the national championship game Syracuse took a two-goal lead and then the Tar Heels came back to tie the game early in the second half. With 11 minutes remaining Orange freshman Zoe Wilson found the perfect time to score her first collegiate goal. A late goal by Emma Lamison secured the victory, 4-2, and the 2015 National Championship. It was the first title for Syracuse field hockey and the first national championship for any Syracuse women's team.
"There were a lot of years of dreams, broken dreams, and battle wounds," Bradley said. "To be the first in anything you do is to be a pioneer. It takes a lot of courage, a lot of hard work, and you have to be purpose driven. "It's just incredible to think of what that team did. They followed a dream and a belief, and they trusted my vision as their coach."
After stints with Goucher and Richmond before becoming Syracuse's head coach in 2007, Bradley finally achieved a dream she had been chasing for 19 years as a head coach.
"It is all worth it for the joy, trust and connection of those women who were able to fulfil that dream. It was all the women that had been at Syracuse and dream of a championship for the field hockey program. I want that team to be honored and seen as pioneers," Bradley said. "What they did, to be the first, it's not easy. It was a 43-year history, and I hope these women will get the recognition they deserve for their courageous act – for being the first."
"I would like our team to be remembered as a group of empowered women who went after something they believed in," Russell said.
"We were always there for each other," said Manley, a three-time All-American who played for the U.S. National Team in the 2016 Olympics. "It was a sisterhood. We had a lot of confidence in each other and there was so much trust between everyone."
The intercollegiate field hockey program that started at Syracuse in 1972 with head coach Muriel K. Smith directing the program and moved to Division I under the direction of head coach Kathleen Parker in 1982, made history on November 22nd, 2015 by winning the national championship.
"I hope some little girl from Upstate New York wants to go to Syracuse to play field hockey and sees that it's possible to chase her dreams," said Jecko, who went on to play for the U.S. National Team from 2016 through 2020. "My dream was to win a national championship for Syracuse. Was it believable when I was a freshman? No. But through the course of my time [at Syracuse], it was believable – and it's because of Emma, Alyssa and Ange."
One moment in time fueled a national championship run for the Orange field hockey team.
"I remember standing there (in 2014), watching Connecticut celebrate the championship, thinking, 'We only have one more year,'" said Jess Jecko, who was Syracuse's starting goalkeeper from 2013-15. "It hit me really hard. After watching the celebration in 2014, our mindset immediately went to, 'What can we do next year?' From that moment on, our group of seniors and returning players said to ourselves, 'We're winning this next year.'"
The day Jecko remembers was November 23, 2014 – the Orange lost to Connecticut, 1-0, in the national championship game. Syracuse had made history by getting to that stage for the first time in program history. The Orange won 18 games, including a shootout thriller against North Carolina in the national semifinal, to punch their ticket to the championship.
"It was really difficult in the moment," said Emma Russell, Syracuse's all-time leading goal scorer and a junior co-captain on the 2014 squad. "I remember saying to Lauren (Brooks), Kati (Nearhouse) and Jordan (Page), 'I'm really sorry we couldn't do it.'"
While the 2015 Orange had to replace key starters in Brooks, Nearhouse and Page, they returned experienced veterans Alyssa Manley, Russell and Jecko. This trio played in three NCAA tournaments and two Final Fours at Syracuse. This leadership group was poised to use its confidence to rewrite their NCAA tournament story.
"We were so confident that we were going to get back to that same position and hopefully win it this time," Manley said. "There was a weird feeling that whole season because we were so sure in our ability to win. I didn't really feel nerves going into games because we knew what we had to do, and we knew we were going to get it done."
When the Orange arrived home from Maryland after the 2014 Final Four, the team posted a countdown clock in the locker room counting the days to the next national title. Jecko posted a to-do list on her home refrigerator with one task listed: Win the national championship. All focus quickly shifted from the disappointment in 2014 to confidence for 2015.
"Christmas break gave us the chance to reset and refocus our goals," Russell said. "The special thing about the 2015 group was our extreme focus. It's hard to express, but in 2015 we knew we were going to do it."
Syracuse began the 2015 season on a 15-game win streak, including a perfect 10-0 record at J.S. Coyne Stadium. 'Cuse dismantled eight ranked opponents and passed the 2008 team for the longest win streak in program history. Syracuse climbed the polls to be the top-ranked team in the nation. Duke was the final opponent standing in Syracuse's way an undefeated regular season.
"When we went into overtime [at Duke], you could feel the pressure of being undefeated start to hit the team," said head coach Ange Bradley.
"Everyone wants to upset the undefeated team," Jecko said. "But if any team was going to beat us, it was going to be ourselves. We had the skill and talent, so it was up to our execution."
In the 79th minute Orange midfielder Alma Fenne fired a laser past the Duke keeper from six yards out.
"I can still clearly see that goal," Bradley said. "She took the goalkeeper in a one-on-one, and she had great composure as a finisher. That goal took us took us to another place and it popped that bubble of pressure – we did it."
With an unblemished regular season in the books, the Orange entered the next phase on their quest for the national title at the ACC Tournament. Syracuse defeated Virginia in the semifinal to setup the league championship tilt against North Carolina.
The third-ranked Tar Heels entered the game with a 17-2 record and an offense that ranked second in the nation in scoring (81 goals). The Orange had trailed at half in just three games all season – the first of which was against North Carolina earlier in the year. Back in September, UNC challenged SU by jumping out to an early 2-0 lead before Syracuse stormed back in the second half to win 4-2. Now in the ACC Championship game, a familiar scenario awaited the Orange. Once again, Syracuse faced a deficit at halftime. Freshman standout Roos Weers tied the game in the second half on a penalty stroke to force overtime. In the 78th minute, Weers had another penalty stroke opportunity to secure victory, but this time the UNC keeper made a diving save. Less than a minute later, the Tar Heels marched down the field and pocketed their second goal to win the ACC crown and end Syracuse's undefeated run.
"We were very upset that we didn't win the ACC Championship," Manley said. "But it gave us a realization that we weren't invincible. It was a good learning and growing moment for our team."
"UNC played very well, and it was a battle between two really strong teams," Jecko said. "After we lost, we didn't go to the locker room – we stood there and watched [North Carolina] celebrate. [Coach Bradley] told us, 'In two weeks, that's going to be us.'"
Bradley saw a silver lining in the second-place finish.
"I thanked [Roos] for missing that stroke," Bradley said. "I told her, 'If you didn't miss, we wouldn't have the refocus needed for the postseason.' There were some things we needed to do better in our attack to be able to get to that next place."
The locker room countdown clock read just eight days as the NCAA tournament began. The Orange regrouped after their first loss by storming past No. 20 UMass and No. 16 Princeton to secure their third trip to the Final Four in four years. As fate would have it, two familiar faces joined 'Cuse in Ann Arbor – defending-champion UConn in the semifinal and a potential rematch with ACC Champion North Carolina.
"For us, it didn't really matter who we were playing," Russell said. "To us, it was just another game of hockey. It doesn't matter who's on the other side."
The Orange knocked off Connecticut in the national semifinal, 3-1, to set up a rematch with North Carolina in the championship game. As the Orange prepped for a chance at history, fate provided one last piece in the Orange's favor.
"When we got to Michigan and it snowed, that enhanced it even more, 'This is our weekend,'" Bradley said. "It was the perfect storm – having Connecticut and finding Carolina in a big snowstorm. It was just meant to be."
"We train through this weather all the time," Manley said. "This feels like home. It felt calming with the snow around us."
In the national championship game Syracuse took a two-goal lead and then the Tar Heels came back to tie the game early in the second half. With 11 minutes remaining Orange freshman Zoe Wilson found the perfect time to score her first collegiate goal. A late goal by Emma Lamison secured the victory, 4-2, and the 2015 National Championship. It was the first title for Syracuse field hockey and the first national championship for any Syracuse women's team.
"There were a lot of years of dreams, broken dreams, and battle wounds," Bradley said. "To be the first in anything you do is to be a pioneer. It takes a lot of courage, a lot of hard work, and you have to be purpose driven. "It's just incredible to think of what that team did. They followed a dream and a belief, and they trusted my vision as their coach."
After stints with Goucher and Richmond before becoming Syracuse's head coach in 2007, Bradley finally achieved a dream she had been chasing for 19 years as a head coach.
"It is all worth it for the joy, trust and connection of those women who were able to fulfil that dream. It was all the women that had been at Syracuse and dream of a championship for the field hockey program. I want that team to be honored and seen as pioneers," Bradley said. "What they did, to be the first, it's not easy. It was a 43-year history, and I hope these women will get the recognition they deserve for their courageous act – for being the first."
"I would like our team to be remembered as a group of empowered women who went after something they believed in," Russell said.
"We were always there for each other," said Manley, a three-time All-American who played for the U.S. National Team in the 2016 Olympics. "It was a sisterhood. We had a lot of confidence in each other and there was so much trust between everyone."
The intercollegiate field hockey program that started at Syracuse in 1972 with head coach Muriel K. Smith directing the program and moved to Division I under the direction of head coach Kathleen Parker in 1982, made history on November 22nd, 2015 by winning the national championship.
"I hope some little girl from Upstate New York wants to go to Syracuse to play field hockey and sees that it's possible to chase her dreams," said Jecko, who went on to play for the U.S. National Team from 2016 through 2020. "My dream was to win a national championship for Syracuse. Was it believable when I was a freshman? No. But through the course of my time [at Syracuse], it was believable – and it's because of Emma, Alyssa and Ange."
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