Postseason Tradition
The Syracuse women’s lacrosse storied tradition has carried through into postseason play. The Orange has won ECAC and BIG EAST titles and has participated in six NCAA Tournaments. SU is one of eight teams to compete in six NCAA Championships since 2000.
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Katrina Hable led the Orange |
The Orange and the Terriers battled in a back-and-forth contest. Lauren Brady tallied two goals for the Orange in the first half as the two teams headed into intermission tied at two. The second stanza was close throughout with the game tied at seven late in the contest. Boston University took an 8-7 lead with 26 seconds remaining and won the ensuing draw control. However, Kara Hanover intercepted a pass and threw a long pass to Jessica DeRosa, who knotted the game at eight with four seconds left in regulation. Hanover scored what proved to be the game-winner with 1:27 left in overtime. Katrina Hable led the Orange with four goals, while Ewing was strong in the cage, recording 21 saves.
Next up for the Orange was top-seeded Yale, who defeated Cornell, 11-5, to advance to the championship game. Hable tallied two first-half goals to help the Orange to a 5-3 halftime advantage. Syracuse continued its strong play in the second half and held a 9-6 lead late in the game. Yale scored two late goals but the Orange was able to hold on for the championship, 9-8. Ewing recorded 13 saves and was named the MVP of the championship, recording 34 saves in the two contests. Jenna Szyluk posted three goals to lead the SU offense.
The Orange earned its first NCAA Championship invitation in 2000, just its third season of competition. Syracuse traveled to Washington, D.C. to square off against rival Georgetown in the first round. The game was tightly contested throughout with the two school headed into intermission knotted at four. After an early SU goal in the second stanza, Georgetown rallied off three consecutive goals to take a 7-5 advantage and never looked back. The Orange continued to fight but the Hoyas prevailed, 11-10.
Following the 2000 season, Syracuse would earn a trip to the NCAA Championship in the next three seasons. In 2001, the Orange lost to sixth-seeded North Carolina, 14-9. Fourth-seeded Cornell emerged victorious during the 2002 season, 16-9, and Yale defeated the Orange, 12-7, to conclude the 2003 campaign. Syracuse was one of only six teams to qualify for the NCAA Championship all four seasons from 2000 to 2003.
After a one-year absence from the NCAA Tournament, the Orange returned in 2005 to square off against four-seeded Dartmouth in Hanover, N.H. Syracuse started strong and held a 7-4 halftime advantage only to see the Big Green score the first five goals of the second stanza and take a 9-7 lead. The Orange scored a goal with 14:28 remaining but could not add another score after that, losing 9-8.
The 2007 season proved to be a magical season for the Orange. Syracuse hosted the inaugural BIG EAST Championship and looked to open the first-ever championship with a bang. Syracuse, who earned a share of the BIG EAST regular-season title for the first time, was the tournament’s two seed and opened play against third-seeded Rutgers. Senior Ashley Pike led the SU offense in the semifinals, scoring four goals, while sophomore Katie Rowan added three goals and an assist. The Orange had a strong defensive showing with sophomore Amber Pardee-Hill making 11 saves in the cage.
Up next for the Orange was rival Georgetown, who defeated Notre Dame to advance to the championship game. The Hoyas had won all six of the previous BIG EAST Championships and was looking for number seven against the Orange. The teams traded two goals early on but the Orange took control of the game soon after that. Syracuse scored six of the next seven goals to take an 8-3 halftime advantage against its rivals. Pardee-Hill played outstanding during the first half, stopping nine shots to help give Syracuse the halftime advantage. The Syracuse lead reached as many as seven goals, 11-4, in the second half before Georgetown responded with three-consecutive goals. Rowan tallied her third goal of the afternoon with 26 seconds remaining to seal the victory for the Orange, 12-7. With the win, Syracuse earned an invitation to the NCAA Tournament and its first victory against Georgetown in 11 attempts. Pardee-Hill was named the Most Outstanding Player, recording 24 saves while allowing only 14 goals (63.2 save percentage).
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Katie Rowan led the Orange |
The seventh-ranked Orange then awaited its first-round opponent in the 2007 NCAA Tournament. Syracuse found out it would travel to Nashville, Tenn. to take on 10th-ranked Vanderbilt. The Commodores started the game strong, jumping to early 2-0 and 3-1 leads. The Orange quickly responded and scored the next three goals to take a 6-4 lead. Vanderbilt scored the next two goals to knot the game at six but freshman Christina Dove answered with a goal and then junior Kristin Brady added another score to give the Orange an 8-6 lead at intermission. The Commodores were able to pull within one, 11-10, but Syracuse would tally the final five goals of the game to win its first-ever NCAA Tournament game, 16-10. Dove and Rowan led the SU offense with five goals each.
Syracuse then faced its toughest challenge of the season, squaring off at top-seeded Northwestern in the NCAA Quarterfinals. Things did not look bright early in the game as the Wildcats jumped to an early 5-1 advantage. Syracuse would respond and score the next four goals of the game to tie the game at five. After Northwestern reclaimed the lead, Brady knotted the game at six with 55 seconds remaining in the opening period. The Wildcats added a goal with 13 seconds left and had a chance to add another one but Pardee-Hill made an amazing save in the closing seconds to keep the Orange within one at the intermission. The teams traded goals to open the second stanza but Northwestern tallied the next four goals to grab a 12-7 advantage. The Wildcats were able to hold on and defeat the Orange, 14-9, in one of their toughest games of the season en route to its third-consecutive national championship.
2008 Postseason Success
The postseason started for the Orange in South Bend, Indiana at the BIG EAST Tournament. The team had already clinched the BIG EAST regular-season title by going a perfect 5-0 in league play. It was the first time ever the team went undefeated conference action and only the sixth time in BIG EAST history that a team has finished the regular season with an unblemished conference record.
The Orange’s first task in defending its 2007 BIG EAST Championship was taking on Rutgers in the semifinal round. The game proved to be a high-scoring affair for the team, as they set the BIG EAST Championship record for most goals in a half by scoring 11 goals in the first half alone. Sophomore Christina Dove scored a career-high seven goals, while junior Katie Rowan tallied a game-high 10 points on four goals and six assists. Dove’s seven goals and Rowan’s six assists and 10 points set single-game tournament records while Dove’s achievement tied the school record for goals in a game. The game ended in a 22-7 Orange victory, which gave them great momentum heading into the Championship game against seventh-ranked Georgetown.
The Hoyas, still reeling from the crushing defeat delivered by the Orange in the regular season, managed to put together a stronger effort in the Championship game of the tournament. They took a 3-0 lead to start the game, but the Orange soon fired back with two goals from Kristin Brady and Christina Dove to make the score 3-2 at the half.
The Hoyas scored the first goal after halftime, but the half belonged solely to the Orange after they answered with an 8-0 scoring streak. The game ended with a score of 12-6, and the win gave Syracuse its second BIG EAST Championship title in two years.
Clinching the BIG EAST Championship title gave the team even more momentum heading into the NCAA Championship. Their first task of the tournament was a matchup against Towson, who had fallen to the Orange, 22-5, in the regular season. The fifth-seeded Orange played to a home crowd at the Carrier Dome and gave them quite a show as they stomped the Tigers, 21-9. Katie Rowan set NCAA Championship and school single-game records with eight assists and 13 points. With her five goals, Rowan also took sole possession of first place on Syracuse’s all-time goals-scored list with 176 in her career. Christina Dove also had a notable game, by tallying a career-high seven points on five goals and two assists.
After dominating in the first round of the tournament, the Orange faced a stiffer opponent in the quarterfinal round when they faced eleventh-ranked North Carolina. The game proved to be a tight one as the Tar Heels kept it close with the Orange for the entire game. During the second half, North Carolina broke a 9-9 tie to take their first lead of the game with 9:50 remaining. Syracuse regained control of the game after Katie Rowan and Halley Quillinan each scored a goal putting the Orange ahead for good with 8:30 remaining in the game. The game ended 13-11, in favor of the Orange, who then increased their win streak to eleven games. The victory also gave the team a place in the semifinal round for the first time in school history.
In the Final Four, Syracuse would meet its old foe, number one ranked Northwestern, who would again prove to be too powerful for the Orange. However, the Orange didn’t go down without a fight keeping the game within one at halftime with a score of 6-7. The second half was more lopsided with the Wildcats going on a 9-0 scoring run to make the game 16-6. Halley Quillinan put a stop to the scoring attack by scoring with 2:14 left in the game, and Awehiyo Thomas scored the game’s last goal to make the final decision 8-16, with Northwestern advancing to the championship game for the fourth straight year.
