The Syracuse women’s lacrosse team won its Big East opener against Rutgers on Saturday, 11-7.

The win, which snapped a two-game losing streak, was in large part to the success of SU (3-5, 1-0 Big East) sophomore attack Michelle Tumolo, who had four assists on the day. Tumolo has not started the season off with the same strength she did last year, but has had five points in each of the past two games.

Catherine Rodriguez led the team with three goals against the Scarlet Knights (6-3, 1-1 Big East). The senior is listed on the roster as a defender, but in the last few games has been pushing forward to create an offensive spark.

The offense has been strengthened by the freshmen up top, including Katie Webster, who has the second most goals on the team with 18 so far this season. She scored to put the Orange up 1-0 early Saturday. After two consecutive Rutgers goals, SU went on a run to head into halftime up 8-4.

Syracuse has struggled so far this season, with only a 3-5 record despite a preseason No. 5 ranking. The win in its first Big East game could be a step in the right direction for the Orange, although Syracuse’s three wins all came against unranked teams. The Orange is 0-5 against ranked teams this year.

SU doesn’t play again until Monday, April 4, at Dartmouth, the final game of the Orange’s six-game road trip.

Tennis

The Syracuse tennis team went 2-1 over the weekend. The Orange (13-5, 6-1 Big East) notched a pair of 7-0 victories Friday and Saturday, dominating both Army and St. John’s. SU finished off the weekend with a 4-3 loss at Rutgers.

The first two wins gave the Orange clean 7-0 sweeps in each of its last three games. With those pair of victories, SU improved to 4-4 on the road and 13-4 overall this season.

Against Army, junior captain Emily Harman and freshman Maddie Kobelt earned their ninth straight victory at the No. 1 doubles position, winning 8-2. Senior captain Simone Kalhorn and freshman Aleah Marrow took the second match 8-3, while junior Alessondra Parra and senior Christina Tan followed suit in the third spot.

SU maintained its dominance in singles play. Harman won a tough battle at the No. 1 singles position 7-6, 7-6. Kobelt cruised through her second match 6-0, 6-3. Parra and Tan took the third and fourth matches 6-2, 6-4 and 6-2, 6-3, respectively. Kalhorn won the No. 5 match 6-1, 6-2, and Marrow completed the sweep, taking the No. 6 match 6-3, 7-5.

The Orange traveled to take on Big East foe St. John’s on Saturday and earned its third consecutive sweep. But the stretch ended with a 4-3 loss at Rutgers on Sunday.

Syracuse will continue its six-game road swing next weekend as it travels to take on William & Mary on Saturday and Old Dominion on Sunday. The Orange has four matches left before the Big East tournament.

— Compiled by The Daily Orange Sports staff

Published on March 27, 2011 at 12:00 pm