Syracuse attempts to knock-off No. 1 Northwestern for first time since 2003
This weekend’s game against No. 1 Northwestern has been circled on Katie Rowan’s calendar since last summer. Rowan, a senior attack on the Syracuse women’s lacrosse team, is looking for vindication against a Wildcats’ team that has handily defeated her team in five consecutive matchups.
Still, no loss resonates more with Rowan than last year’s heartbreaking defeat in the NCAA tournament semifinals. During that game, Northwestern limited Rowan, then the nation’s leader in points, to two shots on net, ultimately rendering her ineffective en route to a 16-8 victory.
Since joining the team in 2005, Rowan has never experienced a victory in any of her team’s matchups against Northwestern. Syracuse is 1-5 in its all-time series against the Wildcats, with the lone win coming in a 14-3 rout in 2003.
Now, in her last hurrah with the Orange, Rowan’s intentions are to cap her farewell tour with a statement victory against her archrivals.
‘It’s been marked on my calendar as game of the year,’ Rowan said. ‘I’ve been thinking a lot about it and about the different things I can work on. It’ll be the last time I face them in the regular season, so I really want to go out there strong and play my heart out.’
Rowan will look to compensate for last season’s blunders this Sunday as No. 4 Syracuse travels to Northwestern and face off in a battle between two powerhouses at 2 p.m.
The Wildcats’ pressure defense has stifled more than just Rowan. Junior midfielder Christina Dove, the team’s leading scorer last year, has also been victimized by Northwestern in recent campaigns.
In two games last season, Northwestern curbed Dove’s offensive production, limiting the midfielder to only two goals off four attempted shots on net. Considering that Dove finished the season with 75 goals, a Syracuse single-season record, the Wildcats accomplished quite a defensive feat.
As a result of her struggles against Northwestern, Dove too can sympathize with Rowan’s frustration and desire for revenge.
‘I’ve been thinking about this game since right after the (postseason loss) and into the summer,’ Dove said. ‘It was a lot of motivation especially all through the fall. A lot of people on this team remember back to that final four. They’re definitely one team we got to beat.’
Halley Quillinan, a junior midfielder and the last of the Orange’s offensive All-Americans, also hasn’t achieved much success against the Wildcats’ aggressive defensive tactics. Quillinan netted only one of her career-high 63 goals against Northwestern last season and was held scoreless at the Carrier Dome.
Still, the Wildcats’ constant double-teaming of Syracuse’s triple threat has opened up chances for other Orange players to shine. Senior attack Megan Mosenson has capitalized on her opportunities, netting three goals apiece in each game.
Syracuse head coach Gary Gait has planned to build upon strategy, advising his star players to loosen up and allow the team’s role players to ease the trio’s burden by taking advantage of the excess flexibility.
‘Coach Gait keeps telling us ‘Relax, go out there and have fun because there’s nothing to lose in this game,” Dove said. ‘It’s just a great opportunity for our team. Although, there is the revenge factor since they’ve knocked us out of the tournament for the past two years, we can’t put too much pressure on ourselves.’
The problem, however, is that Syracuse can’t sustain its offensive prowess in the second half of games against Northwestern. In the second half of the last year’s 19-7 regular season loss, the Wildcats went on a tear, outscoring the Orange, 14-2, after the intermission.
It was the same story in the final-four tussle between both squads. At halftime, Syracuse was still in contention, narrowly trailing by two scores. But Northwestern blew the game open in the second half, routing SU 7-2 during that interval.
‘We want to put it all together and play one full game,’ Rowan said. ‘They have a high pressure defense. It’s much different than most of the other teams we face. They’re very athletic and they really want to change the game plan of the other teams. They just create chaos.’
Since dropping its game against then-No. 2 Virginia, the Orange has looked like a team on a mission, overmatching each of its last three opponents. And the recent play of Quillinan, Rowan and Dove has the SU players thinking confidently and contemplating the possibilities of a potential upset.
‘If we win, it would be a great win for our team,’ Dove said. ‘It could give us confidence throughout the rest of the season that we can beat them and we can win it all.’
