Syracuse WLAX: No. 7 Wildcats Halt No. 5 Orange's Winning Streak

After three-straight fairly close victories for the Orange, the Wildcats (5-2, 0-0 Big 10) came prepared and handed Syracuse their first loss in two weeks. They left little room for the Orange to make mistakes, led with 20:05 left in the first half, and only let Syracuse get as close as a tie for the rest of the game.

Kelly Cross started the scoring for the Orange, and the game, just barely into the third minute of the game. Northwestern tied it up at one goal a-piece before Riley Donahue put Syracuse ahead again. That would be the last lead that the Orange would hold, as the Wildcats scored two goals in-a-row off of attacker Selena Lasota and defender Sheila Nesselbush. They went into the half up by two goals, 8-6.

The second half was completely back-and-forth, with each team answering the other after every goal scored.

Final Score: Northwestern 11, Syracuse 10

Key Players

Halle Majorana and Cross were the co-leading scorers for the Orange with three goals on the day. Erica Bodt scored two of the team's 10 goals and Lisa Rogers scored one to round out the offense. Kailah Kempney had eight draw controls. In goal, Kelsey Richardson had seven saves and four ground balls, allowing 11 goals.

For the Wildcats, Kara Mupo led the way with five goals on 10 shots, with Lasota scoring four goals of her own. Nesselbush rounded out the scoring with her two goals. Lindsay Darell and Shelby Fredricks combined to secure nine of the team's 12 draw controls, a definite factor in the outcome of the game, as Syracuse had 11 draw controls. Between the pipes, goaltender Bridget Bianco had 10 saves while letting up 10 goals.

Last Week's Cornell Game

The Orange returned to the Dome last Tuesday to face New York rival Cornell (5-2, 3-0 Ivy). They had just come off of six-straight one-goal games, four of them on the winning side.

A close game, this was not. The team went on a 9-1 run to start the game off, including three goals from Majorana and two by Kayla Treanor. Cornell scored two goals near the end of the half to cut the lead to six. Syracuse scored three-straight goals, now up 12-3. The Big Red went on 5-2 run of their own, but it was too late, as their final goal came with one second to go in the game.

Final Score: Syracuse 14, Cornell 8

Up Next...

Syracuse will travel to Durham, North Carolina this Saturday to face the No. 4 Duke Blue Devils (9-1, 3-1 ACC). Duke's first loss came this past Saturday at the hands of No. 7 Virginia, a team that Syracuse beat 14-13 in the Dome. The Blue Devlis will be the Orange's fifth ranked opponent they've faced this season so far.