Syracuse Field Hockey: Orange End Skid, Down Hofstra 6-2

On Sunday, the Syracuse Orange (field hockey) felt something they hadn't felt in three weeks: the joy of victory. The Orange beat visiting the Hofstra Stride, 6-2, at J.S. Coyne Stadium -- their first win since beating the Ball State Cardinals in the same stadium on September 7.

Since the Ball State game, Syracuse had lost to ACC rivals North Carolina, Boston College, and Virginia -- the first, sixth, and fifth-ranked teams in the country, respectively. It was the first time Syracuse had lost back-to-back-to back regular season games in nearly a decade, having last done so in 2006.

Yesterday, however, the Orange made sure their three-game skid didn't turn into a four-game skid.

Just over three minutes into the game, freshman Laura Hurff scored the first goal of her collegiate career (thanks in-part to Kati Nearhouse, who found Hurff alone on the far post) and gave Syracuse an early 1-0 lead.

From there, the Orange never looked back and never lost their lead. They got two more first half goals (one from Annaleena Ulbrich and another from Lieke Visser) but Hofstra's Jonel Boileau did have two goals of her own, trimming Syracuse's lead to 3-2 at halftime.

In the second half, Syracuse didn't let Hofstra hang around. Visser and Alyssa Manley each scored within the first 11 minutes following the break, and Jordan Page added her sixth goal of the season to give the Orange the 6-2 lead that would turn into the game's final.

"We are really working to keep growing, head coach Ange Bradley told cuse.com. "Our whole focus today was sticks on the ground, inside the 25, aggressive, ruthless, relentless pressure."

After two games in three days, the Orange won't play again until they travel to Princeton next Sunday and face the 3-5 Tigers.