Orange Takes Down Towson For Coach Gait's 100th Win

Photo by Max Berkowitz

It was a one-goal game through the first half and well into the second, with Syracuse and Towson trading the lead. But perhaps the Orange women didn't want to disappoint Coach Gary Gait, so they scored five unanswered goals in the last 11 minutes of play to keep their undefeated 2014 alive, and earn Coach Gait his 100th career coaching win.

Towson managed to keep things close for so long partly because of the spectacular effort by goalkeeper Kelsea Donnelley, whose eight saves forced the Syracuse attack to get creative.

"She's a good goalie, and we knew she was a solid goalie," Gait said. "We did our homework, we knew what what we needed to do, and unfortunately sometimes we don't execute."

Donnelly made things particularly frustrating for Syracuse attacker Kayla Treanor. "We came out a little flat in the first half," she said. "So [we were] just working on regrouping, taking quality shots, and executing when we have the ball."

Treanor did just that, scoring five of Syracuse's 12 goals, and keeping her status as the leader in points and goals scored for the Orange. The only other Syracuse player to score multiple goals was midfielder Katie Webster, with three.

"We were realizing timing on cuts better in the second half, in the later part of the second half especially,"Syracuse attacker Alyssa Murray said."Once we settled in and realized what would be open and what opportunities we could take advantage of, that's when we really started to click."

Murray had a goal in the first half, putting Syracuse up 3-2 at the time, and also notched four assists.

With 14 minutes left in the game, Towson tied things up 7-7, and it looked like the Tigers might even force overtime - but Treanor, Gabby Jaquith, Devon Collins, and Kailah Kempney had other plans, scoring the last five Syracuse goals to take the lead permanently.

The game might have been tense right up until the end, but Coach Gait was all smiles when asked how it felt to have earned his 100th career coaching win. "It's been a lot of fun over those years, getting to know a lot of great young athletes, and working with some great coaches," he said. "I'm just happy to still be doing it."

With that milestone under his belt, and an undefeated season to protect, Gait and the Orange will have a week free from competition before taking on Maryland in the Carrier Dome on Monday, March 10 at 7 p.m.

Watch postgame comments from Coach Gait, Treanor, and Murray here.