Women’s Lacrosse dominates Albany at home
Women's Lacrosse dominates Albany at home
A few days removed from a heartbreaking loss to #12 Stony Brook, the fourth-ranked Orange rebounded against in-state foe Albany with a 15-3 win. Seven different players scored for the Orange, most notably Megan Carney, who scored five goals. Cuse jumped out to an 8-0 advantage after the first 30 minutes while limiting the Great Danes to just three shots.
“We really wanted to be dominant,” said coach Gary Gait.
Today marked the first time this season that the Orange held an opponent scoreless for an entire half and was the first such occurrence since 2017.
After dominating Canisius on opening night, the Orange lost a hard-fought game to Stony Brook by one goal. “We just didn’t have the mental focus,” said Gary Gait in reference to the Stony Brook game. After taking a few days to regroup, the team put on a clinic, and Gait had reason to revel in the win.
“We didn’t have a letdown, and when something happened we always had a response,” said Gait of his team’s mentality today.
When Albany scored their first goal of the game with 19:28 left in the second half, Megan Carney responded just 41 seconds later. From that point forward, the Great Danes were only able to score against Syracuse’s reserves.
The real reason for the bounce-back Syracuse win was their stalwart backline. The Great Danes mustered eight shots on goal all game, three of which found the netting. Asa Goldstein didn’t have to do much but she simply did what was asked of her, saving three shots and letting in just one before coming out of the game. After the game, Goldstein was quick to redirect the credit to her teammates.
“We got more pressure on them,” said Goldstein. “I only saw three shots, so it’s mostly the defense getting all the stops. They got way more saves than I did today, [and the ones] I got were easy saves.” Everyone on the team played today, and though the offense clicked with the abundance of off-ball movement, the defense clicked more.
Despite a lopsided result, both teams brought some physicality to today’s game. Both teams combined for 36 penalties and five yellow cards, and it seemed like with every change of possession came another stick to the head. The defense rose to the occasion when a teammate committed a foul and stood by their game plan.
“I think we just try to make it as much about us as possible,” said Asa Goldstein. “We just went after the ball. We’re not focused on how chippy they are.” The Orange defense was simply unflappable; one teammate commits a foul? No problem. The backline of the defense proved time and time again that they can get the job done. Everyone seems to understand their role within the team, whether it be cutting to the goal, being an overwhelming defensive presence, or stepping up to make key saves.
The Orange will be back in the Dome tomorrow night to take on SUNY Binghamton at 8:00 PM. Gait’s program will look to improve to 3-1 while defending their home turf against another in-state opponent.
is a contributor to The NewsHouse.
is a photographer for The NewsHouse.
