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The Syracuse Women's Lacrosse team kicked off the Big East Tournament yesterday in Washington, D.C. and unfortunately came up just short against a pesky Loyola, losing 12-11. Their chances at a post-season bid likely ended with the loss.
In spite of the loss, the Orange showed fantastic resolve. The Greyhounds led 10-4 with 17:01 to play before SU began its comeback effort.
In a frantic comeback attempt marked by a hat trick from Michelle Tumolo and a pair of goals from Alyssa Murray, the Orange cut the deficit to just a single goal on two separate occasions. The Loyola offense was the enemy when SU trailed 11-10 as the Greyhounds tacked on a late insurance goal with just over two minutes to play. But Catherine Rodriguez responded for SU to cut the lead back to one with just over a minute remaining in regulation. Time was the enemy this time, however, as Loyola gained possession with about 30 seconds left to play and never gave it up.
Despite being co-champion of the Big East regular season, the 10-8 Orange just don't seem to have enough quality non-conference wins to make up for the early-season losses. This will likely be the first time in five years the Orange will not qualify for the NCAA Tournament. They'll find out for sure when the bracket is announced on Sunday, May 8, at 7:30 p.m.
The Men's team has no such concerns. They're not only in the tournament, but they're about to wrap up a second-straight Big East title and likely earn the No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. All that stands in their way is St. John's.
St. John's has lost three in a row since knocking off Providence, 9-6, on April 9, including a 14-7 home loss to Drexel on April 30 in its most recent outing. The Red Storm is averaging 8.54 goals per game and has been fairly successful on man-up, scoring on 36.8 percent of its opportunities (21-57). Defensively, St. John's is giving up 9.77 goals per outing.
The Orange has won all three meetings with the Red Storm by the combined score of 65-21, including last year's 15-7 victory.
Check out Dave Rahme's story on how John Galloway and Stephen Keogh became better lacrosse players together and get ready to send them off on Saturday.