In its first Big East tournament game since 2005, Syracuse fell 3-1 to Georgetown on Sunday to end its season. The Orange (7-8-3, 6-5 Big East) couldn’t get past the Hoyas (15-5, 8-3), and any hopes SU had of making the NCAA tournament were put to rest.

Syracuse got off to a slow start Sunday and never recovered. The Hoyas potent offense set the tone in the very first minute when Daphne Corboz capitalized off a rebound in front of the net to give the Hoyas a one-goal edge 52 seconds into the game.

Later in the first half, Georgetown struck again to double its lead. Camille Trujillo received a great feed to the middle and dribbled past an SU defender for easy goal.

Going into the second half, Syracuse’s defense continued to fail. This time it was Ingrid Wells who did the damage. The redshirt senior was able to get the ball by SU goalkeeper Brittany Anghel on a rebound opportunity in the 51st minute to give the Hoyas an insurmountable 3-0 lead.

By time the time the Syracuse offense got going it was too late. Sophomore midfielder Rachel Blum headed the ball into the back of the net, in the 75th minute after receiving a perfect crossing pass from Rosina Callisto. It was Blum’s first career goal, but it was much too late.

Georgetown outshot Syracuse 11-9 for the game, and Anghel finished with four saves in goal for the Orange.

SU finishes the season with its highest win total under head coach Phil Wheddon.

Cross country

The men’s and women’s cross country teams both placed fourth at the Big East championships on Saturday. Pat Dupont, Lauren Penney and Sarah Pagano earned All-Big East recognition with their standout individual performances.

The top finisher for the men’s team was Dupont, a senior, who placed ninth overall with a time of 23:51.7. Senior Lauren Penney led the women, placing 10th overall at the EP ‘Tom’ Sawyer Park in Louisville, Ky.

Villanova won both the men’s and women’s races in a battle to become the champion of one of the most competitive cross country conferences in the nation. There was only a three point spread from second to fourth place in the men’s competition. The women tied for fourth with West Virginia in a race against numerous top-10 teams.

Although the men’s team fell short of achieving its goal of capturing its third consecutive Big East title, a fourth-place team finish was one of its best performances this season.

Tito Medrano was the next Orange harrier to cross the finish line after Dupont with a time of 24:10.6, good for a 19th place finish. Forrest Misenti (24:11), Sean Keefe (24:11.4) and Andrew Palmer (24:12.2) finished close behind in 21st, 23rd and 25th, respectively.

Freshmen Max Straneva (24:18.7, 26th) and Ryan Urie (24:25.9, 30th) also ran for the SU men this weekend.

For the fourth straight time this season, Penney (20:21.6) was the top female finisher for the Orange. Sarah Pagano finished right behind Penney in 14th with a time of 20:33.1. Heather Stephens also finished in the top 20 for the women with a time of 20:36.8, good for 17th place.

Also running for the women were Shaylyn Tuite (20:53.4, 21st), Natalie Busby (21:12.5, 30th), Jessie Peterson (21:13.80, 33rd) and Rebekah MacKay (21:29.10, 40th).

With an off weekend ahead, the Orange harriers will begin preparing to defend their 2009 and 2010 NCAA Northeast Regional titles in Buffalo on Nov. 12.

Volleyball

Syracuse (17-9, 6-4 Big East) split its two weekend road matches, falling to underdog West Virginia (6-16, 4-7 Big East) at the WVU Coliseum on Saturday before defeating Pittsburgh (14-12, 4-7 Big East) at Fitzgerald Fieldhouse on Sunday.

Both matches were three-set sweeps. The Orange lost in three sets to the Mountaineers (25-15, 25-20, 28-16) behind WVU setter Kari Post’s 41 assists and WVU libero Serinna Russo’s 25 digs.

Outside hitter Noemie Lefebvre had 18 digs for Syracuse. Setters Laura Homann and Emily Betteridge had 8 assists and 12 assists, respectively.

The loss broke SU’s three-match winning streak, but SU was on the winning end of a sweep on Sunday afternoon. Lefebvre recorded her 1,000th career kill with 14 kills in the match, which Syracuse won 25-20, 25-22, 25-21.

Betteridge had 37 assists, and libero Ashley Williams had 15 digs. With the win, SU is now tied for fifth place in the Big East.

The Orange plays its next game at Louisville on Saturday. The Cardinals (17-6, 9-1) are in second place in the Big East.

—Compiled by The Daily Orange Sports staff 

Published on October 30, 2011 at 12:00 pm