Reigning Champs Primed to Win Another Big East Tourney

By Darius Joshua 

The Syracuse University Softball team (41-11, 15-5 Big East) finished up its remarkable season against the Louisville Cardinals on Sunday and are now ready for the Big East Tournament. 

Beating the Cardinals capped off the team’s best ever win streak of 11 straight games and helped solidify its best ever regular season with 41 wins. This season has been all about setting records for the softball team. The Orange was ranked nationally for the first time in program history in March. Syracuse also set records for biggest margin of victory (23-0), most runs in a contest (23), and most hits (19) all against Rutgers on March 26. 

The Orange won the Big East tournament last year by beating Louisville in the finals 2-1 and went onto the NCAA tournament. The team lost to Oklahoma 10-0 and then went on to lose to Maryland 4-1. 

The Orange are ranked third in the Big East Tournament behind the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the DePaul Blue Demons, respectively. The tournament starts Thursday, May 12th and ends on May 14th. Syracuse kicks off its tournament against the Pittsburgh Panthers (34-16, 13-8 Big East) at 10 a.m. on Thursday. The last time these two teams met was last season. They split a double header with the Orange taking game one, 8-0 and the Panthers taking game two, 4-0. The all-time series between the teams is 12-8 in favor of Syracuse. 

The winner of this game will face the winner of the game between the Blue Demons and the Rutgers Scarlet Knights on Friday.

Success for Syracuse

By Mathew Shadle

The Syracuse Track and Field Teams were in action at the 2011 BIG EAST Outdoor Track & Field Championships held in Villanova, Pennsylvania.  The Orange Women finished the three-day event in seventh place overall, while the Orange Men finished in ninth.  Here are the highlights from the past three days.

Friday 5/6

Senior Kelsey Rubeor started off strong, taking the lead in the women’s heptathlon.  After four events Rubeor had a total of 3,328 points, highlighted by winning the shot put with a throw of 13.82.

Saturday 5/7

Rubeor continued her dominance and became the BIG EAST Champion in the heptathlon.  She put an exclamation point on her performance by winning two of the remaining three events, the javelin and long jump.  Rubeor finished the heptathlon with 5,680 points, the second highest score in BIG EAST history.

Rubeor wasn’t the only Syracuse athlete experiencing success.  Tito Medrano retained the crown of BIG EAST Champion in the 10,000-meter run with a time of 29:34.06 improving on last years BIG EAST Championship time of 29:38.20.

Sunday 5/8

Junior Ieva Staponkute became the third champion for Syracuse at the 2011 BIG EAST Outdoor Track and Field Championships by winning the women’s triple jump, securing the top spot with a jump of 12.81 meters.

The Orange Track and Field Teams will be in action next weekend at the ECAC-IC4A Outdoor Track and Field Championships held at Princeton University in Princeton, NJ.

'Cuse Crushes Red Storm

By Louis Milman

With a dominating 20-6 victory over the St. Johns Red Storm on Saturday, the Syracuse Orange lacrosse team has clinched their 2nd consecutive Big East Lacrosse Conference championship. The Orange, who had regained their #1 ranking with a victory over Notre Dame last weekend, will remain number one into the beginning of the NCAA Tournament, and will almost undoubtedly be the overall number 1 seed. 

With the victory, the Orange move to 14-1 on the season and are undefeated (6-0) in the Big East. The Orange excelled in almost every aspect of the game, with 20 different players recording either a goal or an assist, and the defense shutting down the Red Storm offense. Orange goalie John Galloway saved 60% of the shots he faced, and the Orange used all three backup goalies, none of whom surrendered a goal. 

Tommy Palasek and JoJo Marasco continued to exhibit improvement in playing together, scoring two goals each. Palasek added two assists, leading the Orange with four points. Joel White added two goals with his long pole, his third career multi-goal game, two of which have been against the Red Storm.

The incredible SU senior class played their final regular season game the right way, with White and Galloway helping to lead the way. Senior Steven Keogh added two goals to tie Mike Leveille for ninth on the SU all-time list with 132. The senior class improved their record to 59-7, the best for any graduating class in school history. 

SU will learn at 9pm on Sunday who they will face in the opening round of the NCAA tournament. The bracket selection will be shown on ESPNU. SU’s opening round game will be Sunday, May 15th at the Carrier Dome.

Season Recap and Tribute to Richie Carlston

By Conor Hurley

On July 20, 2010, Syracuse University student Richie Carlston passed away in a car accident. Richie was going to be a sophomore at SU and was a goalie on the men’s hockey team.

I never knew Richie. I was the freshman goalie that was able to play as much as I did this year because of his passing. But from what I’ve heard, he was a great kid, he always had a smile on his face and he was always laughing. He was also a great teammate and player, and he is dearly missed.

At the first captains’ practice of this past season in August, the captains brought us all together and told us about Richie’s passing. They said the season would be dedicated to his memory, we would hang his #1 jersey up behind the bench during every game and practice, our chant before every game would be “RICHIE ON THREE: 1-2-3 RICHIE!” and that we would win the NECHL championship for him.

We were supremely motivated to do everything our captains said, and we did. Here is a recap of our incredible season, enjoy. RIP Richie. This was for you. 

Video by Conor Hurley

SU Punter Rob Long: From Cancer to the NFL

By Conor Hurley

For the first three years of his football career at Syracuse University, starting punter Rob Long was one of the most important players on the team.

Lucky for the Orange, Long was so good because the team as a whole was horrible. Long punted the ball 263 times in his career for an average of 43.3 yards, only 3 yards behind the record holder Todd Sauerbrun for the NCAA’s longest punt average.

This past season for the first time since 2001, the Orange had a winning season and played 13 games. Unfortunately, senior, co-captain and punter Rob Long would not play in this thirteenth game.

Throughout the season Long experienced frightening sypmtoms. Headaches, stomach pains and vomiting became regular occurrences, especially during road trips with air travel. Teammates including sophomore quarterback Ryan Nassib were unaware of Long’s health problems.

“He never complained, he just went about his business,” Nassib said in an interview with philly.com. Long hails from Downingtown, PA, a suburb of Philadelphia.

Long was finally persuaded by his girlfriend to get checked out by a doctor in December. What Long would see on the MRI was much more concerning than headache, stomach pains or vomiting.

On Dec. 2nd Long was told he had what was believed to be a benign brain tumor in an operable spot. On the 14th he had surgery, but on the 20th he received terrible news. The tumor was not benign but malignant. He was diagnosed with astrocytoma, and radiation and chemotherapy treatments were not possibilities but necessities.

The surgery went well and Long was able to join his teammates on the sidelines for the New Era Pinstripe Bowl at Yankees Stadium on Dec. 30th.

Although Long could not play in the school’s first bowl game since 2004, he used Alex Rodriguez’s locker, he kicked balls at the New York Jets training facility, and he rang the opening bell of the New York Stock Exchange.

What is Long’s next goal? The NFL.

Although Long was not drafted in this past weekend’s NFL Draft, ESPN’s draft guru Mel Kiper rated him the 5th best punting prospect.

Brian Bennett, a Big East blogger for ESPN.com, also was enthused by the prospects of Long playing the NFL. “Anyone strong-willed enough to battle through a brain tumor with the positive attitude Long maintained is someone I’d want on my side,” Bennett said on his column of the best “draft bargains.” “And don’t forget he was one of the league’s best punters throughout his career and also handled kickoffs and holding duties.”

Long can only hope that an NFL team will have the same opinion of him as a kicker and as a human being as so many others have had. As for now, Long is working hard toward the possibility of getting a spot.

And as for punting not being important? Long says differently. On Dec. 19th, five days after his surgery, Long watched the Eagles-Giants game as Giants’ punter Matt Dodge failed to punt the ball out of bounds and Eagles’ wide receiver DeSean Jackson returned it for the game-winning touchdown.

“Wow that’s wild…Punting matters people!!!” Long tweeted.

Two SU Players Have Chance at Pros

By Darius Joshua

Draft weekend is officially over and still no decision expected to come on the Lockout until July. As of now, all NFL business deals must stop. Players won’t be able to work out any contracts until the lockout is lifted. But at least players know which teams they have a chance to play for.

Only two of the four former Syracuse football hopefuls got drafted; Delone Carter and Doug Hogue. The other two Orange players, Ryan Bartholomew and Derrell Smith, will have to wait for the lockout to be lifted and try to test the waters of free agency or find a new career. 

Delone Carter was drafted in the fourth round as the 22nd pick to the Indianapolis Colts. This is a great result for Carter because he gets to join a team that usually goes to the playoffs and are always championship contenders. Led by Peyton Manning, the Colts are more of a passing team. Their running game is in need of improvement and if Carter becomes a workhorse he can give the running game, ranked 29th in the league last season, a much needed boost. 

The Colts main running backs are Joseph Addai and Donald Brown. Addai has been known to be injury prone and Brown has only been in the league for two years. Combined they both had just under 1,000 yards last season.

Doug Hogue was drafted in the fifth round by the Detroit Lions. 

Hogue joins a relatively young linebacker core. The oldest player is Landon Johnson who has been in the league for eight years. He joins a defense that was 19th in the league in points allowed, 21st in total yards allowed and 24th in rushing yards allowed. The young Detroit team was 6-10 last year and is still trying to rebuild. Event though the Lions aren’t very good, Hogue will still have work to get a position on the team. 

Carter and Hogue were able to feel the joy of being drafted, but they may still have to wait a while to experience the joy of playing in their first NFL game.

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.

Orange Continue Win Streak

By Darius Joshua

The Syracuse Softball team took a break from the Big East schedule but continued its magical season with a sweep of the Binghamton Bearcats. 

Junior pitcher Jenna Caira also continued her stellar season by winning both games for the Orange with 19 strikeouts on the day. Caira, now 24-9, led the Orange defense in both Bearcat shutouts, the first 5-0 and the second 4-0. 

In the first game she pitched seven innings and allowed only two hits, no walks, no runs, and had eight strikeouts. She also struck out the first three bearcats she faced in the top of the first. In the second game she pitched for six innings allowed one hit, two walks, zero runs, and had eleven strikeouts.

The offense was led by junior outfielder Lasaira Daniels and Senior third basemen Hallie Gibbs. Daniels had four runs and hit .571 in the two game sweep. Gibbs had three RBI and two hits, including a homerun in the two games. 

In game one, the Syracuse offense got off to a quick start with a two run lead in the bottom of the first inning. The runs came off a two-run homer from Gibbs. The Orange didn’t register another run until the bottom of the fifth inning off a three-run bomb from junior catcher Lacy Kohl setting the final score of 5-0.

In the second game Caira started off strong again by striking out the first three batters again. Both teams remained scoreless until the bottom of the third when Gibbs hit a single that allowed Daniels to score the first run of the game. The Orange then scored again in the bottom of the fifth off a two RBI double to right field by Jasmine Watson. The Orange then clinched the victory in the sixth as Junior second basemen Stephanie Watts hit a RBI double to make the final score 4-0. 

The Orange return to the Big East play against Seton Hall on April 30 at 12 p.m. 

Orange Advance to Quarterfinals

The #7 Syracuse Orange Tennis team defeated the #10 St. Johns Red Storm this morning in the first round of the Big East Tournament.

Due to poor weather in South Bend, Indiana, tournament officials decided to play singles first and only move on to doubles matches as needed.

The day started off well for one SU player. Co-Captain Emily Harman defeated Nevena Selakovic in two sets, 6-3, 6-1. With that win she earned her 100th career victory in an Orange uniform.

Alessondra Parra, Maddie Kobelt and Christina Tan also defeated their opponents in two sets to propel the Orange to a 4-0 victory.

Syracuse improved its record to 17-6 and 9-1 in Big East play. The 17 wins makes the Orange the second most winningest team in history, behind only last years team that went 20-3. This win also gave head coach Luke Jensen his 75th career victory. Jensen has had a successful five year tenure at SU with a .658 winning percentage, the best in program history.

The Orange will play again tomorrow morning at 9 a.m. against the #2 South Florida Bulls.

Former SU Stars Have Big Weekend Ahead

By Darius Joshua 

Syracuse football greats such as Art Monk, Donovan McNabb, Jim Brown and Jim Ringo successfully transitioned from University Hill to NFL gridirons. Now, it's time for other Orange greats to make their mark in the NFL. Four former Orange football players could be selected this weekend at the NFL Draft at Radio City Music Hall - Delone Carter, Ryan Bartholomew, Doug Hogue, and Derrell Smith. 

The four players were invited to the NFL Combine in Indianapolis, Indiana to display their talents in front of many scouts. It was their chance to prove that they belong in the NFL. Here is a look at how they faired and where they stand on draft boards today.

Running back Delone Carter is favored to be drafted first among the SU players. Carter rushed for 1233 yards and scored 9 touchdowns in his last season in Syracuse and was named Pinstripe Bowl MVP after his 198 yard, 2 TD performance. He performed well at the combine and his draft stock reflects that. Most scouts have him being selected in the third or fourth round.

Center Ryan Bartholomew also had a very good combine. He benched more than any offensive lineman at the event, as he put up 34 reps. Bartholomew showed serious speed, running the 40 yard dash in only 4.97 seconds, second among all offensive linemen. With his performance at the combine, it appears that Bartholomew will be selected late on the second day of the draft. 

Linebackers Doug Hogue and Derrell Smith led the Orange defense in their senior seasons. Hogue finished the season with 60 tackles, 3 sacks and 2 interceptions while Smith tallied 72 tackles, 1.5 sacks and an interception.  However, they struggled to impress scouts during their combine workouts. Hogue has a better chance than Smith to make it in the league due to his elite athleticism. It is also possible that Hogue is converted to a different position, if an NFL team sees that potential in him. It appears that both of these former SU linebackers will be chosen on the third day, if it all drafted.  

An Emotional Farewell For Coach Rob Murphy

By Louis Milman

This past week, assistant basketball coach Rob Murphy accepted the head coaching job at Eastern Michigan University. Yesterday, Murphy’s farewell press conference was held at the Carmelo K. Anthony Center.
Murphy took the assistant coaching job at SU 7 years ago. Syracuse was just one year removed from winning a national championship, and assistant Troy Weaver received a job in the NBA. Murphy was a largely unknown assistant at Kent State, and when the chance to learn from a legendary coach like Jim Boeheim arose, Murphy took it. 

Seven years later, Murphy has built a name for himself at Syracuse. Whether recruiting players like Wes Johnson, Kris Joseph, Baye Moussa Keita, Arinze Onuaku, and C.J. Fair or his work with the forwards, Murphy has had a huge impact on the SU basketball program, and will leave big shoes for his replacement Adrian Autry to fill.

Murphy spent his press conference gushing praise for Boeheim, and the rest of the SU staff. More telling, however, it was Boeheim’s opening statements. Boeheim called Murphy “an unbelievable coach here for us. What he’s done is as good as anybody’s ever done here and we’ve had a lot of great assistant coaches.’’

As much as Murphy thanked Boeheim and everyone else involved in his time at SU for being a part of his rise to this head coaching chance, the SU program should thank Coach Murphy for all he’s done on The Hill.

Kris Joseph took to twitter to thank Murph for “helping me grow as a person and a player from the day [Murphy] started recruiting me.” Murphy was more than a coach during his time here. He was a confidante to so many of the players at SU, he was the star of the team’s “Shut It Down” campaign, and he was more than happy to interact with the students and other fans. Murphy’s title was assistant coach, but he did it all in his time at Syracuse. 

Coach Murphy is by all accounts a great fit for Eastern Michigan, but that won’t make his exit any easier. Murphy had to fight back tears just a few words into his farewell, and was visibly sad to leave the place where he’s made a name for himself. Though the opportunity for him is a great one, the Syracuse community and the basketball program should be just as sad to see him go.

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..

Ace Leads Orange Over Big East Rival

By Conor Hurley

There have been two constants this season for the Syracuse Softball team: winning and pitching ace Jenna Caira.

Caira, now 22-9 on the season, led the Orange to a 9-0 victory today over Big East rival Georgetown. The Orange are in the midst of their best season in school history, tallying a 31-11 overall record while being 9-5 in the Big East thus far.

Junior Lacey Kohl and senior Hallie Gibbs also contributed to the win. They each belted two-run homeruns. Gibbs’ HR solidified the shutout, ending the game by the mercy rule.

The second game of the double-header was postponed in the bottom of the second inning due to a severe thunderstorm in the area. It literally looked like the world was about to end, so there was no way there was more softball to be played.

One SU student summed up the severity of the weather situation quite adequately. “Initially I said the storm was a 9 out of 10 with 10 being the worst weather ever. Then I saw Chipotle was flooded, and it automatically became a 10,” the student said.

The Orange play next on Thursday when they host the Binghamton Bearcats. First pitch is at 3:30 p.m.

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.

Today in SU Sports 4/22/11

SU Women's Tennis Sweeps UConn

In the final match of the regular season, the Syracuse Tennis team destroyed the University of Connecticut at the Drumlins Tennis Center this morning. A few of the more dominating performances came from seniors Simone Kalhorn (singles), Christina Tan (singles), and Jacquelynn Tang (doubles) who were honored before the game for their service to the team throughout the past four years. The Orange finished the regular season 16-6 and 8-1 in conference and will compete in the Big East tournament next weekend in Indiana.

Syracuse Softball Splits Doubleheader at UMass

The Syracuse Softball team split a pair of highly contested games in Amherst versus UMass, today. The first game featured a strong pitching performance from Syracuse starter Jenna Caira. She went seven innings, gave up only one hit, no earned runs, and struck out 15 UMass batters. The Orange won that game 2-1 with help from Lisaira Daniels' 3 for 4 performance. Caira had a similar appearance in the second game, only giving up one run in six innings, but the Syracuse bats just couldn't produce as the Orange fell 2-0.

Boston University Too Much for Men's Rowing Team to Handle

The Syracuse University Men's Rowing team, ranked eighth in the country, fell short to Boston in every race today. Syracuse competed against both Boston and Columbia. The Orange placed second in three races and third in another. Boston, the six ranked team in the country, had an extremely successful day, winning every race. The good news is that the Syracuse varsity eight only finished a second behind the Terriers.

"I thought BU rode a little more intelligently in the first 1000 than us," Syracuse Coach Dave Reishman said after the race. "We got the lead in the first 1000 but we paid the price for it by being tense and letting the waves bounce us around a little bit."

The Orange Rowing team will have another shot at Boston in three weeks at the Eastern Sprints in Worcester, Massachusetts.

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.