No. 10 Syracuse defeats No. 6 Stanford in key non-conference clash

SYRACUSE, N.Y. - The No. 10 Syracuse Orange women’s lacrosse team took on No. 6 Stanford on Friday in a pivotal non-conference matchup at the JMA Wireless Dome. Going into this match-up, the Orange (6-1) had hit a rough patch to start their season, while the Cardinal (6-0) aimed for a signature road victory.

Syracuse was coming off a three-game losing streak, following a brutal five-game stretch in which they played a team currently ranked in the top eight of this week’s Division I Media Poll every game. Leading the offensive charge against the Cardinal was

Stanford is off to an unbeaten start in their first season in the ACC, with some notable wins dotting their resume. They opened up the season with a 12-goal win over a ranked USC and then added a win over a ranked-at-the-time Colorado team. They’ve won their first two ACC games, the first of which was an impressive road victory against Virginia by six goals.

The Cardinal has had some impressive stats to start their season. Going into tonight's game they were ranked seventh in the country in scoring offense (16.0 goals per game) and 15th in the country in scoring defense (8.50 goals against per game), almost doubling up their opponents on average on the scoreboard.

In short, they’re stingy, and that spelled trouble for a Syracuse offense that’s scored eight goals in each of their three straight losses.

However the Syracuse Orange would not like these stats to deter them as they would score the first five goals of the game keeping Stanford to only one for the entirety of the first period, and a majority of the second but a burst of momentum from the Cardinal would give them the lead at half with a score of seven to eight.

Stanford would have a collective team effort in bouncing back from that first period as Lindsey Devir Elise Murphy and Ava Arceri would finally ignite.

Starting the third period strong it would be Syracuse who would nail the first goal getting things started off by Caroline Trinkaus. This would set the tone for a crazy second half. A game that would become back and forth from the moment the ball touched the turf. It was in large part to Sam DeVito that the Orange would finally secure a decent lead of 11-9 with four minutes left in the third.

The fourth period would end with a 13-13 tie causing the game to go into overtime where the Syracuse Orange would break their losing streak and hand the undefeated Stanford their first loss of the season.

Brooke Casey is a third-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact her email, bec5457@psu.edu.