STAFF : Tumolo’s 5 goals leads Syracuse women’s lacrosse as Orange routs Towson
Michelle Tumolo played well in Syracuse’s first five games, but the Orange’s sixth game brought her finest performance yet.
The attack scored a career-high five goals on just five shots to power the No. 4 Orange (4-2, 0-0 Big East) to an 18-7 victory over Towson (4-2, 0-0 Colonial Athletic Association) in front of 223 at the Carrier Dome. The junior also added three assists to three different SU players to fuel the blowout.
Syracuse actually found itself trailing after an early goal by Towson midfielder Kelsey Murkey gave the Tigers a 1-0 lead less than two minutes in. After Tumolo answered, Towson retook the lead when attack Andi Raymond scored for the Tigers.
From there, the Orange coasted. SU used a 4-0 scoring run between the 21:34 and 14:40 marks of the first half to pull away to a lead Towson could never recover from. Attack Devon Collins scored the first of her three goals during the run. Midfielder Sarah Holden also scored her first of two.
That was just the Orange’s first run, as the Tigers were unable to keep up with the Orange’s talent and athleticism for the final 51 minutes of the game.
Collins scored her final two goals during SU’s second 4-0 run during a four-minute stretch starting at the 8:46 mark of the second half. Tumolo also added a goal during the run as did attack Alyssa Murray who ended the game with a hat trick, as well.
The second half brought Syracuse’s most impressive run of the game. After trading goals to start the second half, the Orange reeled off six straight, turning an 11-5 lead into a 17-5 one and erasing any lingering doubt as to whether SU would hold on.
Syracuse now has 10 days off until it opens up Big East play on March 24 in Storrs, Conn. against Connecticut at 1 p.m. The unranked Huskies are 5-1 this season, but have yet to beat a ranked team. UConn’s lone loss came March 2 against Boston College. The Orange blew out the then-No. 8 Eagles 23-12 in its season opener Feb. 21.
-Compiled by David Wilson, staff writer, dbwilson@syr.edu
