Women’s Lacrosse dominate Colgate 21-4
Women's LAX dominates Colgate 21-4
The Syracuse Women’s Lacrosse team wasted no time running up the score in their dominant 21-4 home victory over in-state rival Colgate. With their fourth straight win, the Orange tied their season high for goals in a game that was not supposed to be easy.
“Woo, what a turnaround,” said head coach Gary Gait, referencing Syracuse’s game against Northwestern two days prior.
After earning a tough road win against the then No. 6 Wildcats on Saturday, the Orange had to travel back home and hit the turf again Monday night. Though the scoreboard is reminiscent of the previous two home routes, Syracuse did not get off to an ideal start in this one.
Despite ‘Cuse scoring just 17 seconds into the game, the defense gave up a goal soon after which served as a “wakeup call” according to defender Kerry Defliese, “We came out sluggish early on, but when that goal hit, we turned it on.”
The Orange did that and then some, scoring 10 unanswered goals as they entered halftime with a comfortable 12-2 lead. Syracuse attacker Megan Carney led all players in points and goals, doing most of her damage in the first half. Senior Emily Hawryschuk contributed as well with a hat trick, adding to her DI leading 30 goals on the season. Nonetheless, the strikers were not the only ones generating offense for the Orange.
“We were being a very unselfish team and moving the ball very well,” said freshman Bianca Cheavrie who was one of 11 players to score for ‘Cuse. “We don’t really care about who gets the points. It’s just the fact that we’re getting it as a team and we’re working together.”
Teamwork was the theme of the game and it allowed the Orange to create an efficient offensive game plan that ran through seemingly every player. Emphasis was placed on making “one more pass” and this allowed Syracuse to control the tempo and move the ball at their own pace. The team also dominated time of possession which led to them outshooting the Raiders 36-12.
The effective offense also led to easy defense for the Orange who caused 21 Colgate turnovers and won the ground ball battle 22-9. Both sides of the ball were clicking in a type of complete team win that gives a coach like Gait the confidence to say, “from top to bottom, we’re a solid team.”
Biases aside, Gait was not the only coach marveling at the effort put on display by the Orange.
“Our program has never played a team as physical and as fast as Syracuse,” said Colgate head coach Kathy Taylor after losing to the fourth-ranked team in the country.
is a contributor to The NewsHouse.
