The Syracuse women’s soccer team accomplished something this weekend that it hasn’t done since 2001.

For the first time in 10 years, Syracuse had a three-game winning streak against Big East opponents. And it’s the team’s highest win total in conference play since 2001.

The Orange (5-4-3, 4-2 Big East) topped both Seton Hall and Rutgers, pushing its Big East record to 4-2.

Against the Pirates on Friday, SU scored a season high in goals with a 4-1 victory. Casey Ramirez netted SU’s first goal in the 27th minute after collecting a pass from Brittany Kinmond from 18 yards out. The Orange knocked in another goal six minutes later when Cecilia Borgstrom scored her second goal of the season.

In the second half, SU kept applying the offensive pressure, with Megan Hunsberger scoring in the 69th minute. It was the freshman’s second goal in as many games.

Tina Romagnuolo put the finishing touches on the game with her goal in the 78th minute. With the score, Romagnuolo now moves into a three-way tie for fifth on the all-time scoring list in program history.

SU goalkeeper Brittany Anghel finished with four saves, allowing just one goal in the 79th minute.

While Friday’s match was never really close, Sunday’s game was the complete opposite. It was a nail biter to the end, with SU coming away with a 2-1 double-overtime victory.

In the second overtime period, Romagnuolo sent the ball into the box for Borgstrom. From there, Borgstrom moved past her defender and hit the ball across RU’s goalkeeper. Junior Jasmine Watkins was able to finish off the play with the game-winner.

It was Watkins’ first career goal.

Ice hockey

The Syracuse women’s ice hockey team split two games over the weekend at the East/West Showcase in Minneapolis, Minn.

The Orange came away with a narrow 2-1 victory Friday night against St. Cloud State, but was shut out one day later by Minnesota in a 4-0 blowout.

Things got off to a fast start for SU in its opening contest of the year against the Huskies when the Orange offense scored twice in the first period.

SU sophomore Sadie St. Germain netted the first goal of the season with 3:03 to go in the opening period to give Syracuse the early edge. Kaillie Goodnough took a shot that was blocked by St. Cloud goalkeeper Taylor VanDenakker, but St. Germain was in the right place at the right time to knock in the rebound.

Less than two minutes after SU’s first goal, it scored again when Lisa Mullan slid the puck just past the goal line. Originally, the score was waved off. But upon further review the call was reversed for what would be the eventual game-winner.

SU goalkeeper Jenesica Drinkwater earned her seventh career win. The sophomore had 32 saves. The only goal she surrendered was in the middle of the second period to Huskies forward Haylea Schmid.

The day after Syracuse narrowly escaped with a win, it was beaten soundly by the No. 4 Gophers.

Minnesota dominated on the offensive end all night long, outshooting the Orange 50-10.

SU goalkeeper Kallie Billadeau allowed three first-period goals and one more in the second period. The four goals were scored by four different players for Minnesota.

Despite letting in four goals, Billadeau had an impressive 46 saves in the loss.

Volleyball

After dropping its Big East opener, Syracuse took its first step in righting the ship in Big East play with a pair of three-set sweeps against St. John’s and Connecticut.

Lindsay McCabe and Sam Hinz fueled the Orange (11-6, 2-1 Big East) in the first set against the Red Storm (9-12, 0-4), contributing back-to-back kills to give SU a 12-10 lead that it would never relinquish en route to a 25-20 victory.

In the second set, Syracuse found itself behind 17-14 before a 7-1 run led the Orange to a 25-22 victory and a commanding two-set lead.

The third set was again close throughout, but with the score tied at 15, SU pulled away for a 25-22 victory and its first Big East victory of the season.

Syracuse had a quick turnaround as it continued its road trip in Storrs, Conn., against the Huskies (8-9, 0-4) the next day.

A 12-2 run let SU storm back and eventually win the first set 27-25. The next set was a polar opposite for Syracuse. The Orange led by as much as eight in the set as five of Andrea Fisher’s 10 kills helped SU cruise to a 25-18 victory.

But the third set was another battle. Syracuse again found itself down, but with the Orange trailing 20-18, SU again fought back for a 26-24 victory to push Syracuse to another conference win.

Laura Homann also became the sixth player in Orange history to tally 3,000 career assists.

SU returns home Wednesday for a nonconference matchup against in-state rival Colgate before getting back to the Big East schedule Friday against Villanova.

Cross country

The Orange harriers kicked off the more competitive part of their 2011 schedule this weekend at the Paul Short Invitational, racing against some of the top teams in the Big East and the nation.

The Orange, which was ranked No. 12 on the women’s side and No. 15 on the men’s side, held its own against top schools like Georgetown, Providence, Oklahoma and Villanova.

The women’s team placed third overall and the men’s team finished in fifth place. Going into the race, head coach Chris Fox had a goal of placing in the top three on both the men’s and women’s sides.

Pat Dupont led the men’s team, finishing in 11th place with a time of 24:27. Crossing the finish line in 35th place was Tito Medrano with a time of 25:00 and freshman Andrew Palmer (25:02) was right behind in 38th place.

The third-place finish for the women’s team was led by senior Lauren Penney (20:32) with a fifth-place finish. Junior Sarah Pagano was just six seconds behind Penney, with a time of 20:38.

Senior Natalie Busby (21:09) finished in 24th place with teammates Rebekah MacKay (21:23) and Heather Stephens (21:25) close behind, claiming the 44th and 45th spots, respectively.

The Orange will travel to Madison, Wis., to compete in the Wisconsin Adidas Invitational on Friday, Oct. 14, and Terre Haute, Ind., for Pre-Nationals on Sunday, Oct. 16.

—Compiled by The Daily Orange Sports staff

 

Published on October 1, 2011 at 12:00 pm