Orange Lacrosse Topples #1 Ranked Irish

By Conor Hurley

The Syracuse Orange lacrosse team clinched a share of the Big East title with an 11-8 win over #1 ranked Notre Dame on Saturday. The win also allowed the Orange to regain the #1 ranking from Notre Dame in both national polls.

Now 13-1 with an undefeated Big East record (5-0), the Orange defeated the Irish in impressive fashion in front of 14,751 strong at the Carrier Dome. This was a season-high attendance for lacrosse this year at the Dome and in all of college lacrosse.

Stephen Keogh led the Orange offensively with four goals, recording his 21^st career hat trick and now ranks 10^th in school history with 130 goals. Tommy Palasek and Jeremy Thompson also contributed two goals and JoJo Marasco tallied three points as well.

Goalie John Galloway led the way defensively as he made 5 of his 12 saves in the first quarter, allowing the Orange to escape the first with a 4-2 lead. Defenseman John Lade was also crucial to the Orange’s defensive success as he caused a single- game record six turnovers and kept the Irish’s leading scorer Sean Rodgers in check.

John Desko, head coach of the Orange, was pleased with both the performance of his team and the atmosphere in the Dome. “It was incredible to see that many people in the crowd today to watch a great lacrosse game,” Desko said.

The Orange will play for the Big East regular season title on Saturday, May 7^th at the Dome vs. St Johns. Faceoff is scheduled for 1p.m. 

Photographer: Jason Rostkowski 

Orange Tame The Greyhounds

By Catherine Brown

Holding off a late surge, the Syracuse Women’s Lacrosse team upset the Loyola University Greyhounds 10-9. With this victory, the Orange improved their record to 9-7 overall and 6-1 in the BIG EAST.

Loyola took an early lead 4-2 less than 12 minutes into the game; however, Syracuse rebounded quickly scoring three consecutive goals to seize a 5-4 lead on one of Alyssa Murray’s many goals.  Loyola managed to tie the game going into halftime, but Syracuse would regain control early in the second half on a Michelle Tumolo goal that started a 5-0 run for the Orange.

Syracuse had the lead 10-5 with 8:17 left to play, but the Greyhounds came storming back scoring four consecutive goals. The Hounds final goal came with 25 seconds left to knock the Orange’s lead to one, but Syracuse remained strong in the closing seconds to secure the victory.

Tumolo led all scorers with three goals and two assists, while Murray contributed her own two goals and two assists in the upset. 

Syracuse outshot Loyola 23-22 and Orange goalie Liz Hogan made six saves. Although Syracuse committed more turnovers, the Orange proved to be too much for the Hounds to handle.

This game was the Orange’s fifth consecutive victory over the Greyhounds and increased Syracuse’s lead in the all-time series to 6-3.  Chances are good that both teams will meet again as second and third seeds in next week’s Big East tournament, but official pairings will not be released until later this weekend.

This victory places Syracuse in a tie with Georgetown for first in the Big East.  The Orange will play for their share of the conference title in their final regular season game at Villanova this Sunday at noon.

Tumolo Leads the Orange to Victory

By Ben Glidden

The Syracuse University Women's Lacrosse team held off a late surge and defeated the Cornell Big Red 13-9. Michelle Tumolo and freshman Amy Cross scored eight of the thirteen goals for the Orange in its final home game of the regular season.

Syracuse started the game scoring the first six goals. Tumolo started the streak as she found the back of the net, two minutes into the game. The Orange took the majority of the shots and had possession longer than Cornell. But midway through the first half, the Big Red had a streak of their own outscored the Orange 5-2 going into the locker room.

Cornell goalie Kyla Dambach seemed unstoppable near the end of the first half. The Orange were stonewalled and led just 8-5.

The Big Red came out strong at the beginning of the second half but couldn't maintain the momentum. The Orange went on to outscore Cornell 5-4 in the second to win the game 13-9.

Syracuse outshot Cornell 31 to 24 and won 14 of the 24 draw controls. The Orange had more turnovers than the Big Red but the leadership of Michelle Tumolo proved to be too much for Cornell to handle.

The Orange will take the field again on Friday in Baltimore, Maryland, vs. the Loyola Greyhounds at 7 p.m..

Orange Slice Sports' Co-Athletes of the Week

Katie Hursey - Hursey is a senior long-distance runner from Hampsted, Maryland. She has competed the past four years for the Track and Field team and has also ran for the Cross Country squad at Syracuse. However, this week may have been her best during her time on the hill. At the Larry Ellis Memorial Invitation this past weekend, Hursey performed extraordinarily. She won the 3,000 meter steeplechase title in only 10:13:39. In doing so, she qualified for the Big East Championship as well as the ECAC. Her time puts her on top of the Big East for that run and eighth in the country. Congratulations to Katie Hursey for beating her previous personal-best time by almost 14 seconds and winning Orange Slice Sports Co-Athlete of the Week.

Tee Ladouceur - Ladouceur is awarded the Orange Slice Sports Co-Athlete of the Week due to her strong play this past week for the Orange. Over the course of the week, in two games, she tallied 4 goals and 3 assists. Versus Louisville, Ladouceur capped off a Syracuse comeback by scoring with 49 seconds remaining in the game. On Senior Day in the Carrier Dome, Ladouceur keyed a blowout for the Orange by scoring 3 goals and handing out 3 assists. In doing so, she moved into sixth place on SU’s all-time scoring list.

This Week in SU Sports

Here is a look ahead at the upcoming SU sporting events this week:

Tuesday 4/26:

Softball vs. Georgetown (Double Header) 1 p.m.

-The SU Softball team takes on Big East foe Georgetown at the SU Softball Stadium looking to continue its momentum into the postseason.

Women's Lacrosse vs. Cornell 7 p.m.

-The SU Women's Lacrosse team faces Cornell in their last home game of the regular season.

Thursday 4/28:

Softball vs. Binghamton (Double Header) 3:30 p.m.

-The SU Softball team will go up against its I-81 rival the Binghamton Bearcats in Syracuse.

Track and Field @ Penn Relays (All Day)

The Track and Field team will head down to Philadelphia to compete it one of the most highly regarded track and field competitions in the country.

Tennis @ Big East Tournament

-The #7 seed SU Tennis Team will take on the #10 seed St. Johns hoping to capitalize on their successful season. The Big East Tournament is being hosted by Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana.

Friday 4/29:

Women's Lacrosse @ Loyola 7 p.m.

The SU Women's Lacrosse team will try to gain outright possession of second place in the Big East. The game will be played in Baltimore, MD.

Saturday 4/30:

Softball @ Seton Hall (Double Header) 12 p.m.

-The SU Softball team will head to New Jersey for a double header against Seton Hall.

Men's Lacrosse vs. #1 Notre Dame 7 p.m. - Game of the Week

The SU Men's Lacrosse team will face top-ranked Notre Dame in a game that will likely determine the top seed of the NCAA tournament. The winner will be crowned the Big East Champion.

Sunday 5/1

Track and Field @ Cornell 11 p.m.

-The SU Track and Field team will head to the Big Red Outdoor Invitational at Cornell.

Women's Lacrosse @ Villanova 12 p.m.

-The SU Women's Lacrosse team will take on Villanova in their final game of the regular season.

Softball @ Seton Hall 12 p.m.

-The SU Softball team will head to South Orange, NJ a Big East matchup against the Pirates.

Rowing @ Big East Championship in West Windsor, NJ

-The SU Women's Rowing team will try to upset the field at the Big East Championship.

Syracuse Men's Lax Crush Scarlet Knights

The Syracuse University Men's Lacrosse team easily defeated the Scarlet Knights of Rutgers today at the Warrior Lacrosse Classic in East Hartford, Connecticut with a 12-2 victory. Recent Johns Hopkins transfer Tommy Palasek had a career high six points and sophomore JoJo Marasco finished the day with four.

Rutgers jumped out to an early lead with an unassisted goal from Will Mangan just four minutes into the first quarter. After that goal, the Orange went on to score 11 straight including goals from the likes of Jovan Miller, and Collin Donahue, recent Rutgers transfer.

A strong point for Syracuse in todays game was the defensive performance.

"The defense, once again, was extremely stingy and did a good job, understood the game plan and their match-ups against Rutgers," Syracuse Coach John Desko said in the post game press conference.

Syracuse outshot Rutgers by a wide 35-16 margin and cleared on 18 out of 19 attempts, however the Scarlet Knights won 12 out of the 18 face-offs. The face-off troubles for the Orange were due in part to Chris Mattes of Rutgers, the best face off man in the country, winning 68% of his face-offs this season.

The Orange have won three straight and look to carry this momentum into a marquee match-up with the top-ranked team in the country, Notre Dame, this Saturday in the Carrier Dome.

SU Women's Lacrosse Demolish Bearcats

The Syracuse University Women's lacrosse team scored a season high 20 goals in a 20-3 victory over the Cincinnati Bearcats today in the Carrier Dome. Prior to the game, seven seniors were honored for their service to the team as today was senior day for the Orange. The seniors on the team now have a 54-22 record and have gone to the NCAA Tournament three different times.

The Orange started quickly as three goals were scored in the first five minutes. By half time, Syracuse had scored 12 goals to Cincinnati's one. The Orange went on to have a similar second half, scoring eight more goals and only giving up two. It was a great day for the Syracuse offense as 13 different players scored at least one goal.

Senior Tee Ladouceur had a great senior day with three goals and three assists. This performance moved her up to six all-time on the Syracuse Women's Lacrosse scoring list with 161 career points.

The Orange are now 7-7 overall and 5-1 in conference and will return to action on April 26th for their final home game of the regular season against Cornell.

SU Women Lacrosse Team Earns Sixth Victory

The Syracuse University Women's Lacrosse team won their sixth game of the season with a come from behind win over the Louisville Cardinals today in the Carrier Dome. The team earned their fourth win in the Big East, making them 4-1 in conference, tied with Loyola for second place.

The Orange trailed for the majority of the second half but with right around six minutes left in the game, down three, the ladies started their trek back to victory. It started with a goal from Senior Tee Ladouceur to bring the score to 10-8. On the next Orange possession, Sarah Holden scored one of her four goals on the evening to bring Syracuse within one. Immediately after, Holden scored another goal to tie the game as part of a career-high six points for the Junior.

With just 49 seconds left in the game, Ladouceur struck again with the game winning goal, giving the Orange team their third consecutive conference win inside the Dome.

"We did what we needed to do at the end of the game and that was to give ourselves an opportunity to tie the game up and give us the chance to score and win the game," said head coach Gary Gait after the game.

The Orange hope to capitalize on this momentum as they face Cincinnati at home this Saturday inside the Carrier Dome.