Sports SUmmary: Ice hockey wins CHA title, track reels in ACC hardware

Hockey continues historic season:

The Orange played and won both of its CHA playoff games in overtime at Tennity Ice Pavilion last weekend.

Sarah Thompson scored the game-winner against Mercyhurst in the CHA Championship game. Abby Moloughney netted the OT decider in the semifinals against RIT.

Jessica DiGirolamo earned CHA Defender of the Week honors after the big win. Syracuse will learn its NCAA Tournament opponent this Sunday at 9 p.m. during the selection show on ESPN News.

More famous people watching SU hoops at the Carrier Dome:

Adam Weitsman brought Giannis Antetokounmpo and Pete Davidson to Syracuse earlier this season. Former Georgetown Hoya and NBA MVP Allen Iverson joined Weitsman courtside at the Orange’s 97-72 loss to Duke on Saturday.

New York Giants quarterback and Duke alumnus Daniel Jones was also at the game.

Early 2 TD lead tonight with Danny Dimes in the house @Daniel_Jones10 pic.twitter.com/foO72eAVCp

— Duke Men’s Basketball (@DukeMBB) February 27, 2022

The loss was the second-biggest home loss in SU coach Jim Boeheim’s career. SU lost to UNC Monday night in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and will finish its regular season Sunday against Miami.

Lacrosse shuffles in the rankings:

Syracuse men’s lacrosse didn’t drop in Inside Lacrosse’s national rankings after a loss to No. 1 Maryland two weeks ago, but a 20-11 loss at No. 2 Virginia on Saturday sank the Orange from No. 9 to No. 14.

SU hosts Hobart on Sunday at 4 p.m.

Two opportunities to get back on track pic.twitter.com/GfxBOQia6N

— Syracuse Men’s Lacrosse (@CuseMLAX) February 28, 2022

The women’s group lost its first game of the season 16-15 at No. 6 Northwestern in overtime on Tuesday. Emily Hawryschuk scored a career-high nine points, and Emma Tyrrell earned ACC Offensive Player of the Week honors.

Women’s basketball concludes season

Women’s basketball closed its regular season on a five-game skid, and their struggles continued into postseason play. They lost to Clemson 88-69 in the opening round of the ACC tournament, thus ending their season at 11-18 overall, and 4-15 in conference play.

The Orange honored five seniors on Sunday: Alaysia Styles, Najé Murray, Jayla Thornton, Chrislyn Carr and Christianna Carr. Teisha Hyman earned an All-ACC honorable mention selection, averaging 15.9 points, 6.1 rebounds and 3.9 assists per game.

Conference play begins for women’s tennis

ACC play began for the women’s tennis team. They dropped a close match with Virginia Tech 4-3 on Feb. 25, before succumbing to #9 Virginia 6-1 on Feb. 27. Polina Kozyreva remains undefeated individually on the season.

They’ll host Georgia Tech (3 p.m. on March 4) and Clemson (11 a.m. on March 6) at Drumlins Country Club this weekend.

Softball season is heating up

Softball won three of five games at the Tarleton Softball Invitational on Feb. 18-20 in Stephenville, Texas. The Orange then went 1-2 at the Plainsman Invite on Feb. 25-27, which included a loss to #20 Auburn, who hosted the tournament.

The Orange open ACC competition this weekend in Raleigh, NC against NC State and will host their first series of the year on April 1.

Syracuse concludes indoor track season with ACC Championships

Syracuse acquired 18 points from various races and produced three All-Conference athletes at the ACC Indoor Track and Field Championships in Blacksburg, Virginia, last weekend.

The SU medal recipients included Kahniya James, placing sixth in the women’s 60-meter with a time of 7.45 seconds, Jaheem Hayles, finishing sixth in the men’s 60-meter hurdles with a time of 7.91 seconds and Nathan Henderson, who doubled in the men’s 5K placing sixth and the men’s 3K placing fourth with a time of 7:51.

“We all were blessed with an opportunity to get to ACCs, so I think we all had the mentality of let’s go in and let’s kill,” James said.

And that is exactly what she did. Before advancing to the finals of the women’s 60-meter race, James ran a personal best in the 60-meter prelims.

“It felt like a good run, but I did not expect to get a personal best,” James said. “Feeling the adrenaline and excitement from that, I wanted to bring that to finals and try to push it.”

Coming into the competition, Henderson said that although he experienced some muscle fatigue from training leading up to the championships, he felt confident. “I had a feeling I could stand up and race against some of the best in the conference,” Henderson said.

Like Henderson, JP Trojan doubled running the men’s 5K and 3K and picked up points for the team’s overall total as well.

In the distance medley relay, the women also scored a point for the school with Abigail Spiers leading in the 1200 meter leg, Eunice Boateng in the 400-meter leg, Sage Brooks running the 800-meter leg and Annie Boos finishing the race with the 1600 meter leg.