Sophomore Skilton leads Orange past UMass-Lowell

By Jonathan Kahn
Photo: cuse.com

Syracuse University Women's Soccer won its second game of the season Friday against the River Hawks of UMass-Lowell; the first of two games the Orange will play in the Colgate Nike Classic in Hamilton, N.Y. The Orange (2-1-2) led by sophomore forward Stephanie Skilton defeated UMass-Lowell 4-0. Skilton, who led the team in scoring last season, fueled Syracuse with five points (2 goals, one assist) in game.

Syracuse was in control from start to finish. Junior midfielder Jackie Firenze got the Orange on the board in the 28^th minute with a 30-yard shot from outside the box. Syracuse didn't allow a single shot from the River Hawks in the first half.

The goals came early and often in the second half. Skilton scored twice within the first 5 minutes of the second half.  Skilton said after the game she is happy with her performance so far this season, but wants to do more.

"It's great to get some points on the board and goals in the back of the net," Skilton said. "But I'm still striving to beat my record from last year."

The Orange women added their fourth of the day by way of freshman forward Alex Lamontagne who found a seam in the box and then the back of the net in the 65^th minute. Syracuse outshot UMass-Lowell 23-4.

Head Coach Phil Wheddon said he is happy that Syracuse got the win against the River Hawks, but the team didn't play as well as it should have.

“We had some great opportunities to score that we missed,” Wheddon said. “It actually feels like a little bit of a loss because we could have played so much better.” 

The Orange have played four of their first five games on the road and are 2-1-1, outscoring its opponents 9-3.  But all nine of those goals were scored in just two of the four road games.