And the lacrosse season has now officially come to an end in Syracuse. We're used to the men's team still going strong this time of the season but they were out early this year and it was the lady Orange who were keeping things exciting.
But alas, yesterday the women's Syracuse lacrosse team lost to 9-time National Champion University of Maryland 14-5 (in front of 8,762 people - the largest crowd to watch a women's lacrosse game in the United States, according to that WP article. Those are their words - do they mean ever or just this year? And do they specify the United States because there is a big lacrosse following in, say, Brazil, that would laugh at our paltry 8,700 fans? I don't know these answers, but still, that's a solid crowd).
The results look pretty lopsided, but in reality the Orange and their lacrosse equipment put up a good fight. The Terps had an 8-2 lead early in the second half when Syracuse took a note from their basketball brothers and Shut It Down, holding Maryland scoreless for 21 minutes while scoring 3 goals of their own. The Maryland lead was cut in half.
But that was as close as it got. With 7 minutes to go the Terps scored 3 goals in ninety seconds and didn't look back.
Maryland will go on to face, who else, but Northwestern this Sunday, who beat North Carolina 10-5, and will be playing for their 6th straight title. Lovely.
In the end, the women's team should be proud of their amazing season, getting hot at the right time, and probably putting a little fear in the #1 seed before it was over. This is a big step forward for the Syracuse women's team, and probably lacrosse in general, since it looks like just a handful of teams are dominating both the men's and women's games. Is it the end of Gary Gait's tenure at Syracuse too? You know, let's not ask him that just yet, or else you might get an answer you weren't quite ready for.
Is this also officially the end of Syracuse sports for the season? Are we just left with a summer of speculation about the Big 10 expansion and expectations for the football team next season? I'll be disappointed, but I know my girlfriend will be happy. Last night when I sadly informed her of the women's lacrosse defeat she turned to me and said, "I am shocked at your ability to continue to find Syracuse sports to root for." So help me out! The college sports season can't be done!