Steady defense leads women’s lacrosse to win over Binghamton
Steady defense leads women's lacrosse to win over Binghamton
The Women’s Lacrosse team had another dominant showing against their upstate rival, the Binghamton Bearcats, after a 15-5 victory in the Carrier Dome.
While Syracuse ended with a win, the team only finished with 28 of 40 shots on goal. The lack of execution on the offensive side was masked by stellar defense, as the Bearcats were only able to shoot the ball 12 times. According to Syracuse Head Coach Gary Gait, the defense shined in Tuesday’s game.
“They didn’t give up any easy goals, and they kept getting the ball back for us,” Gait said. “I thought they were the stars of the game today.”
Nicole Levy opened the scoring for the Orange, completing a goal on an Emily Hawryschuk pass in the first three minutes of the game. After the opening goal, Levy and six other players scored to put Syracuse up big early in the game.
A behind-the-shoulder goal from Morgan Alexander extended the Orange lead to 7-0 in the final minutes of the first half. The Bearcats’ offense had no answer for the stout Syracuse defense. Binghamton only had four shots the entire first half. They scored a goal with less than a second left in the half to make it a 9-1 game.
To start the second half, Hawryschuk scored her sixth goal of the season after receiving a pass from Levy on a free position play. Freshman Sierra Cockerille added her first goal career goal to give Syracuse an 11-1 lead with 24 minutes left to play.
Once the Orange stretched its lead to 14-1, Bri Stahrr replaced Asa Goldstock as the goalkeeper with 15 minutes left in the game. During this time, the Bearcats scored four garbage time goals, with the final goal coming from Olivia Batista with 13 seconds remaining. The late surge from the Bearcats hardly put a dent in the big lead the Orange built at the beginning of the game.
Levy led the Orange scoring today with three goals. Natalie Wallon made her impact in the midfield by causing three Binghamton turnovers, giving her team opportunities to counterattack.
Gait and the team are back Wednesday in the Dome to play their first ranked team of the season, Boston College at No. 1. When the two teams faced off last season in Chestnut Hill, Syracuse lost by a mere goal.
is a Broadcast and Digital Journalism senior and sports reporter for The NewsHouse.
Andrew Kuppers is a contributor to TheNewsHouse.com
