Syracuse Orange Men ACC Conference Champs!

Story and photo by Robin Deehan
Photo courtesy cuse.com

CHESTER, PA. – The third-seeded Syracuse Orange men captured their first Atlantic Coast Conference championship edging the fourth-seeded Duke Blue Devils 15-14 Sunday afternoon at PPL Park.

The win marked the fifth conference championship for Syracuse in the last six seasons and earned the Orange an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.

“It was a great game for college lacrosse and we are really excited to come away with a win today,” Syracuse head coach John Desko said.  “My hat is off to Coach Danowski and his team. They are a much different team than we played the first go-around. Much improved. They’ve figured it out and have their people in the right places. They changed things up offensively and defensively. Congratulations to them for making it to the finals of the ACC Championship game.”

“We want to congratulate Coach Desko, his staff, and his students on winning the ACC championship. It’s a great honor and they have a great time and great tradition,” Duke head coach John Danowski said.

First Half Struggles
After Nicky Galasso got the Orange on the board just 39 seconds into the game, the Blue Devils took control going on a six-goal scoring run led by Jack Bruckner, Case Matheis, Tanner Scott and Justin Guterding to end first quarter play with a 6-2 lead.

But the Orange battled back and changed the tide of the game with three quick goals from Hakeem Lecky, Randy Staats, and Derek DeJoe who scored his fourth goal of the season on an extra man opportunity.

Less than two minutes after DeJoe’s man-up goal, Nick Weston evened the score at six on a bouncer between Duke keeper Danny Fowler’s legs.

And the go-ahead goal came from Kevin Rice who attacked the crease from behind the cage for the wrap around.

Two more goals from Dylan Donahue and Staats rounded out a 7-1 second quarter scoring run to send the Orange into the locker room up 9-7.

“I think we got on a little bit of a roll and figured out who they were defensively and what they were doing and, we stopped turning the ball over,” Desko said. “Kevin did a great job with the matchup changes, figuring out who he was being covered by and what kind of move or dodge he would take with that person.”

Second Half Success

48 Seconds into the second half, Bruckner netted his third of the game to bring the Blue Devils to within one.

But two goals from Rice, including a quick stick finisher from a Staats behind the back pass, gave the Orange a two-goal cushion as the third quarter came to a close.

Myles Jones opened fourth quarter scoring but the Orange answered right back thanks to Staats, who dove after a rebound and swatted it in for another SU man-up goal.

With three minutes remaining and down three goals the Blue Devils staged a rally, with back-to-back scores 24 seconds apart from Thomas Zenker and Jones to come within one.

On the ensuing face-off Duke won possession and worked the Syracuse defense but missed four in a row.

With 14 seconds remaining, Matheis took the final shot for the Blue Devils but fired wide.

SU defender Paolo Ciferri won the race to the ball to gain possession as time expired, and Syracuse claimed the ACC title in a 15-14 triumph.

The Orange men are now looking to add another trophy to their 2015 trophy case when NCAA tournament play opens on May 6.

“You want to win every game that you play, especially when there is a trophy on the line, it adds some intensity to the game,” Rice said.  “Playing two games in three days against top six teams is sort of what you will see in the Final Four. To know we can go in and win a game the first day, get our preparation in quickly and get our bodies back and win another game at the end of the weekend is good to know moving forward.”

Playmakers

Although Duke had the advantage in shots, 42-35, and face-offs, picking up 21 to Syracuse’s 11, the game was won on extra man opportunities.

Duke went 0-3 while Syracuse converted three of its four chances in the one goal win.

“The system we were running was working really well,” Staats said.  “We were swinging the ball to the open guy and the back-side guy was open the majority of the time, so we were finding that.”
Tournament most valuable player Rice had seven points on the day with three goals and four assists while Staats and Galasso netted three apiece.

SU keeper Bobby Wardwell recorded eight saves and was named to the All-ACC Tournament team along with Rice, Staats, Galasso and defender Brandon Mullins.

Up Next

The Orange will travel to Colgate Saturday, May 2 to face the Patriot League Conference Champions in the last regular season game.Face-off is scheduled for 3:30pm.

Syracuse Completes Three Game Sweep of UVA, Defeats Cavaliers 11-2 on Senior Day

Story, Photo, and Video by Julia Morris

Syracuse, N.Y. – Senior Mary Dombrowski came into Syracuse's season finale hitting .176.  In her team's doubleheader victory over Virginia (16-40, 4-20 ACC) on Saturday, she was 0-for-6 and had a combined four strikeouts.  But on Sunday afternoon the four-year utility player got the big hit for Syracuse (20-26, 4-13 ACC) in the last college softball game of her career.  In the bottom of the third inning, she launched a grand slam that gave her team a 7-0 lead and Syracuse cruised to an 11-2 win to complete a three game sweep of the Cavaliers.

“I’m speechless,” Dombrowski said. “I’ve been struggling a lot lately especially striking out left and right but for that moment to be so special, my very last softball game of my entire life...I’ll be talking about this forever.”

Cater Comes Out Strong 

Syracuse ace Jocelyn Cater started on the mound for the Orange, making her third appearance in as many games.  She threw a combined 214 pitches on Saturday but if she felt fatigued, she showed no signs of it in the beginning of the game.  She was perfect through the first three innings with three strikeouts. 

“I think today I was a little bit slower just because of so much throwing yesterday,” Cater said. “So I was really trying to spin it and trick them because seeing them for the fifth or sixth time in a row I think you have to trick them at that point.”

And while the Virginia offense struggled to get going against Cater, Syracuse’s bats picked up where they left off on Saturday when the team scored a combined 21 runs in two games.

The Orange got the first run of the game in the bottom of the first when Corinne Ozanne lined a base hit to left field to put Syracuse up 1-0. Syracuse added another run in the bottom of the second when Danielle Chitkowski led off the inning with a homer to left to increase the Orange lead to 2-0.

“Everyone just came with their A-game and we fed off of each other,” Ozanne said.

Syracuse Offense Erupts

Syracuse continued to get big hits in the third and fourth innings.  Virginia starting pitcher Aimee Chapdelaine was taken out after loading the bases with no outs in the bottom of the third.  Her replacement, freshman Alex Fomby, could not get the Cavaliers out of the jam.  The first batter Fomby faced was Rachel Burkhardt, who hit an RBI single to left field that scored Sydney O’Hara and made it 3-0 Syracuse.  The next batter was Dombrowski and her grand slam put the game out of reach for the Cavaliers.

“It just feels good to contribute in such a fantastic manner,”  Dombrowski said.

Syracuse added four more runs in the bottom of the fourth when the Orange’s number nine hitter, Alyssa Dewes, hit her second home run of the season.  Her two run shot to left made it 9-0 Syracuse.

“That’s what she has in her,” Coach Leigh Ross said.  “Got her pitch, drove it hard and that’s what happens.”

Then, with the bases loaded and two outs, Sydney O’Hara hit a 2 RBI single up the middle to give the Orange an 11-0 lead.

Virginia did manage to get two runs off Cater in the top of the 5^th, but only one was earned. Katie Park reached first after Cater dropped a pop up that would have been the first out of the inning.  The next batter for the Cavaliers, Megan Harris, homered to right to cut the Syracuse lead to nine. 

“I’m just trying to think about the next pitch,” Cater said.  “I’m frustrated with myself more than anything because I threw a bad pitch but I try to focus on the next pitch.”

Cater bounced back to retire the next three Cavalier batters in order and Syracuse secured the 11-2 victory.

Thoughts on the Season

Syracuse finishes the season with a 20-26 record and 4-13 record in the ACC. The Orange do not qualify for post-season play.  Ross said after the game that although Syracuse ended the season on a high note with the three game sweep, she thought the team was capable of playing the way it did against the Cavaliers throughout the season.

“I told the girls all season this is the team we were expecting to see,” Ross said. “Just to compete game in and game out but a little too late but a great weekend.”

The Orange expects to return several key players next season, including Cater, who put up 14 wins and a 3.79 ERA this year.

 “Joce has grown so much as a pitcher this year,” Ross said.  “I think earlier in the season she had doubts but she started gaining her confidence as the season went on.”

Syracuse’s best offensive player, Ozanne, also is to return next year.  The rising senior finished the season with a .344 average and 13 home runs.  

Virginia will also miss postseason play.  Syracuse’s doubleheader victories Saturday denied the Cavaliers a shot at extending their season.

Postgame Videos

Coach Ross

Corinne Ozanne

Jocelyn Cater

Mary Dombrowski

Offense Powers Syracuse Past Virginia, 14-9 to Sweep Doubleheader

Story, Photo, and Video by Julia Morris

 

Syracuse, N.Y. – Corinne Ozanne picked a good time to hit her 12th home run of the season.  The Syracuse University Orange’s home run leader stepped up to the plate in the bottom of the fourth inning with Syracuse (19-26, 3-13 ACC) down a run to Virginia (16-39, 4-19 ACC).  On the second pitch of the at bat, the righty drilled a shot to left center that easily cleared the fence.  Ozanne flipped her bat immediately after she hit the two run homer that gave the Orange an 8-7 lead.  That home run was one of six in the game for Syracuse, whose bats powered them to a 14-9 victory over the Cavaliers on Saturday afternoon.

“I pimped it a little bit, yeah, I did,” Ozanne said when asked about her bat flip after the home run. “We work on that in practice, if you know it’s gone and it’s gone then you better let everybody else know that it’s gone too.”
 

Virginia Strikes First but Orange Quickly Respond

Virginia started the scoring in the top of the first inning when Danni Ingraham hit an RBI single down the first base line to give the Cavaliers a 1-0 lead.  The freshman played well for Virginia, finishing the game 2-for-5 with two RBIs.

However, the Orange women answered with three runs of their own in the bottom half of the inning.  Senior Julie Wambold, who was playing her second to last game as a member of the Orange, hit a three-run home run to right center that put Syracuse back on top 3-1.  The homer also put Wambold over the 100 mark for career RBIs, giving her 102.

“She’s been struggling and not getting the big hits,” Coach Leigh Ross said. “But that was nice for her to get that one.”

Over the next few innings, both teams’ offenses answered each time the other scored.  UVA scored two runs in the top of the third, one as the result of an error by Orange first baseman Sydney O’Hara.  Ingraham hit a grounder to first but it popped out of O’Hara’s glove and allowed Iyana Hughes to score and tie the game at three.  O’Hara made up for the error in the bottom half of the inning though as she lined a grounder to right for a two RBI single that put Syracuse up 5-3.

“Coach always says let the mistakes go,” O’Hara said.  “I knew I messed up and you know it’s going to happen and I was just focusing on my at bat that inning.”

Virginia Scores Four in the Fourth but Ozanne Homer Gives Orange the Lead

The Cavaliers’ offense got off to a quick start in the top of the fourth inning.  Lauren Heintzelman led off the inning with a homer to left field that made the score 5-4.  Ingraham capped the four-run inning by hitting a single to left that gave Virginia a 7-5 lead.

But Ozanne’s home run in the bottom half of the inning put Syracuse back up and the Orange led the rest of the way.  Virginia pitcher Alex Fomby, who has allowed opponents to hit .354 against her this season, could not find a way to shut down Syracuse.

Maddi Doane also had two home runs in the game, the first a solo shot to right that cut the Virginia lead to 7-6.  She hit her second in the bottom of the fifth, a three-run homer that put Syracuse up 12-7. Doane finished 4-for-4 with four RBIs. 

“Her first home run was nice and then her second one she was just really becoming unglued,” Coach Ross said.

Ozanne also hit her second home run of the game shortly after Doane went yard. She hit another two-run shot that gave the Orange a 14-7 lead.  Syracuse finished with 14 hits.

“It’s confidence,” Ross said. “It helps everybody when everybody is hitting.”

Cater Silences Virginia Offense in Final Innings

Syracuse ace Jocelyn Cater, who struck out 12 and earned a win in the first game of the doubleheader, replaced started Lindsey Larkin and pitched the last three innings for the Orange. 

“We had gotten enough out of her (Lindsey),” Coach Ross said.  “They were on her and we knew if we were going to stay in this game let’s go for the wins now and not save Jocelyn for tomorrow.”

If Cater was tired from the 214 pitches she threw on the afternoon, she did not seem to show signs of it.  She added five more strikeouts and gave up only two runs in relief. 

“I think I was throwing quite hard today and that’s something I’ve been working on lately,” Cater said. “I’ve worked on a lot of high pitches and a lot of change and I worked a lot from the outside corner and then worked in after that.”

Virginia scored one of its final two runs in the top of the seventh but it was not enough to spark a comeback and Syracuse secured the 14-9 victory.

Next Up

Syracuse and Virginia will play the final game of their three-game series Sunday at Skytop field.  The game is the last game of the season for Syracuse, who will honor seniors Mary Dombrowski, Lindsay Taylor, and Julie Wambold before the game.  First pitch is set for noon.

Post-Game Videos

Coach Ross

Jocelyn Cater

Corinne Ozanne

Sydney O'Hara

'Cuse Takes Game 1 vs. Virginia As Seasons End Nears

Story and Photo by Michael Castellano

SYRACUSE, N.Y. - The weather may have been cold, but the Syracuse bats were hot as the Orange took game 1 of its last home stand with a 7-4 victory over Virginia on a brisk Saturday afternoon at Skytop Softball Stadium.

The Orange (16-38) put up a seven spot on the scoreboard in the third inning against Cavaliers (18-26) starter Aimee Chapdelaine who went just two and two thirds innings and suffered the loss for Virginia.

Syracuse fell behind in the top of the third. After allowing two walks to start the inning Orange starter Jocelyn Cater threw a fastball to Kaitlin Fitzgerald who ripped it into left field for an RBI single.

But the Syracuse bats woke up in the bottom of the inning. 

It looked like another 1-2-3 inning for Chapdelaine as she retired the first two Orange batters in order, but after a two-out walk to Corinne Ozanne, Sydney O'Hara lifted a 2-run homer to right center to tie the game at two. Then with Julie Wambold on first and Danielle Chitkowski on second Rachel Burkhardt brought both home with a double to left center. Maddi Doane finished off the big inning for 'Cuse with a 2-RBI double of her own to left center to score Mary Dombrowski and Annie Toczynski. 

Cater gave up two more runs in the top of the seventh, but was brilliant in between working out of a first and second one-out jam in the fifth. She picked up the win to move to 13-17 on the season. 

"I just tried to keep focusing on the next pitch," Cater Said. "I just kind of told myself keep working on that next pitch."

Freshman Maddi Doane finished the game 1-3 with 3 RBIs. 

Cater added 12 more K's to bring her strikeout total up to 233 on the year.

 "Jocelyn threw awesome today," head coach Leigh Ross said. "She really dug deep, threw a lot of innings for us, and we got the hits we needed."

Next

The Orange also beat the Cavs in the second game of the doubleheader. (See separate story by Julia Morris.) SU wraps up the 2015 season with game 3 of the series Sunday afternoon. It will be the last game for seniors Mary Dombrowski, Lindsay Taylor, and Julie Wambold. First pitch is set for 12:00 p.m. 

No. 3 Seed Syracuse Downs No. 2 Seed North Carolina With Last Minute Goal To Advance to ACC Final

Story & Photo By Robin Deehan

CHESTER, PA. – Revenge was sweet for the No. 4 ranked (3-seed) Syracuse men’s lacrosse team (10-2) at PPL Park on Friday evening, as they beat No. 2 North Carolina (12-3) 9-8, blanking the Tar Heels in the final two minutes of play to advance to the ACC Tournament final.

The two lacrosse powerhouses met just two weeks ago on April 11 in Chapel Hill when North Carolina ran out to a big lead and held on for a 17-15 victory.

Friday’s ACC semi-final matchup had a different pace and a different ending.

“Well we haven’t played at Carolina for 20-some years and then this year we play them twice,” Syracuse head coach John Desko said.  “It was a couple of great games. It was a good game down in Chapel Hill and a great game here this evening. Both teams played really hard. We were fortunate to come out with the win so we can go on and play Duke on Sunday.”

First Half Match Play

The Orange men, who lost their last two road tests by going down several goals early on, jumped out to a quick start when Nicky Galasso scored twice in the first few minutes of play.

“We talked about it all week,” senior attack man Kevin Rice said.  “The book on us is that we can’t play well on the road. We wanted to answer those critics. I thought defensively we were great. We only gave up a goal or two in the first quarter, which helps the offense when you know you are getting stops and Ben [Williams] is winning face-offs.”

Williams won 14 of 21 face-offs in the game.

UNC answered by scoring three straight goals from Drew Hays, Walker Chafee and Brett Bedard to take the lead in the second quarter.  

But Rice and Dylan Donahue each found the back of the net less than two minutes apart to put SU back up by one. 

With 4:41 left to play before halftime, SU defenseman Brandon Mullins was penalized for an illegal body check resulting in a man-up goal by Luke Goldstock to even the score at four.

Just 26 seconds later, Joey Sankey scored unassisted to put the Tar Heels up back up by one, which looked like it would hold until halftime.

But Galasso ended the first half the way he started it and netted his third of the game unassisted with 1:20 left  to send the teams into the locker rooms at five even.

Second Half Scoring Drought

Syracuse started the second half taking its biggest lead of the game with three unanswered goals from Randy Staats, Donahue and Henry Schoonmaker to go up 8-5.

But sloppy offensive play and unforced turnovers then prevented the Orange from finding the back of the net for more than 23 minutes and allowed the Tar Heels to catch up with a goal from Duncan Hutchins and two by Chad Tutton, the second with 11:12 left to play in the game.

Rice’s Heroics and a Crucial Mistake

With just 1:48 left on the clock and the game knotted at eight, Rice found himself behind the cage with the ball in his stick and took off around the crease.

Rice shot high, placing it top shelf, past UNC keeper Kieran Burke’s left shoulder for the score.

“That whole fourth quarter was back and forth,” Desko said.  “Teams were taking shots. I thought their goaltender made some great saves and Bobby [Wardwell] made some great saves for us. I thought the whole fourth quarter, 10 minutes to go, was just a rollercoaster. No one was really scoring, so it felt like whoever was going to get the next goal was going to win the game. Fortunately, Kevin stuck that in for us.”

On the ensuing face-off Syracuse gained possession but a Galasso turnover gave the Tar Heels one final chance.

As Burke cleared the ball into the midfield a miscommunication found the Tar Heels offsides and the ball was awarded back to the Orange.

Syracuse maintained possession as time expired and solidified its place in the ACC final against No. 4 seed  Duke.

“We were offsides,” UNC head coach Joe Breschi said.  “We had four failed clears. Last time we played them, we were 19-19, so four failed clears resulted in two goals. Just the fundamentals and attention to detail.”

Wardwell’s Redemption

The Orange triumph was also attributed to outstanding play from SU keeper Bobby Wardwell.

Wardwell, who was pulled at halftime from the UNC loss on April 11, had a career high 14 saves, seven in the third quarter alone.

Wardwell also was helped by defensive anchor Mullins, who held UNC’s leading scorer Jimmy Bitter to no goals.

“Our defense was keeping us in it and keeping it tight,” Rice said. “Bob played outstanding and at the end, we just ended up getting it done. Their defender went to my left side, so I pushed to the right and was able to get it in there.”

Blue Devil Rematch

The Orange will face the No. 4 seed Duke Blue Devils in the ACC Final this Sunday at 1pm at PPL Park.

The last time Duke and Syracuse met was March 22 at the Carrier Dome when the Orange men manhandled the Blue Devils 19-7.

“Mentally we will have to get past our win against them in the Dome,” Desko said.  “They are a much improved lacrosse team from what I saw this afternoon. I think they have been steadily improving all year long.”

Duke advanced to the ACC final after knocking off No. 1 seed and top-ranked Notre Dame in the earlier semi-final game on Friday evening.

The Blue Devils, led by Case Matheis’ four goals, dominated Notre Dame jumping out to a 10-2 lead through the first three quarters of play.

The Irish finally came alive and put up a fight in the final 15 minutes, scoring six unanswered goals by five different players and cutting Duke’s lead down from eight to four  with 4:14 left on the clock.

But a failure to convert an extra man opportunity and another Duke goal by Justin Guterding as time expired, halted Notre Dame’s chances at a storybook comeback and the Irish fell 13-8.

PHOTOS: Syracuse Chiefs vs. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders - 4/18/15

Photos by Jiayang Zhang

The Chiefs dropped game three of their home opening series vs. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre 6-0 Saturday afternoon. Here's the game in photos...click on any photo to start slide show.

SU Women's Lacrosse Tops UAlbany on Senior Day

By Jessica Eley

©Lauren Williams

Syracuse, N.Y. -- A career best from senior Loren Ziegler,  helped no. 9 Syracuse (11-6, 3-4 ACC) outlast no. 19 UAlbany (12-3, 4-1 America East), 14-12 on its Senior Day at the Carrier Dome.

"No better way to finish Senior Day than with a career high goals by Ziegler," head coach Gary Gait said.

Ziegler finished the afternoon with five goals and Kayla Treanor with three.


First Half

The Great Danes took a quick 2-0 lead before the Orange got on the board with a goal by Ziegler five minutes into the game.

UAlbany's fan section booed and yelled when a foul was called on the Great Danes, giving the Orange the free position. SU took advantage with Erica Bodt scoring to give the Orange its first lead of the game with a score of 6-5.

Syracuse and Albany had the score tied at seven at halftime.

Four of the seven SU goals belonged to Ziegler.


Second Half

Syracuse looked like it had a spark coming out of halftime.

UAlbany held SU's leading, Halle Majorana, to only one goal. But her one goal, only 26 seconds into the second half, got the Orange started.

A goal by Ziegler gave Syracuse a four-point lead with 23:30 left to play. The Orange finally had some momentum.

"We just had to do it," Ziegler said. The Senior Day gave us the extra push."

But, UAlbany began to chip away at that lead. Four unanswered goals later the score was tied at 12.

An Erica Bodt goal gave the lead back to Syracuse.

Riley Donahue put the Orange up by two points with less than three minutes left. Her first shot was blocked but there was scramble by the net and the ball found its way past the UAlbany's goalie.

"I'm proud that we finished the game and got through it," Gait said. "In a tight game we found the answers and we came back and made a play. Today we stepped up and got it done."

Next

SU heads down to the ACC Tournament at Virginia as the no. 6 seed, where the Orange women will face the no. 3 seed Boston College in the quarterfinals on Thursday. SU lost to the Eagles 10-9 on Feb. 28 at the Carrier Dome.

Trading Goals Not Enough for Great Danes Lacrosse

Photos by Lauren Williams

The University of Albany's women's lacrosse team battled with Syracuse Sunday afternoon at the Carrier Dome. The Great Danes traded goals with the Orange several times throughout the contest but a push by Syracuse within the last seven minutes of the game led to a 14-12 loss. Maureen Keggins and Sarah Martin led the charge with three goals while the Orange's Loren Ziegler notched a game-high five. Here is the game in photos. Click an picture to start slide show.

Cornell Sweeps Saturday Morning Races to Secure 23rd Goes Cup Title

Story by Lauren Williams
Photos by Lauren Williams and John Nicholson

  Liverpool, N.Y. --  Syracuse was the home team but Cornell's Big Red owned the course, sweeping the races over the Orange and the Navy Midshipmen Saturday  morning in fast conditions on Onondaga Lake and its outlet. The No. 9 Big Red varsity eight's win defended the Goes Trophy title and the sweep gave Cornell the Stagg Cup for total points. Navy finished second in all but the second varsity eight race.

            One of the biggest traditions in the history of the Orange rowing program, SU, Navy and Cornell, have battled for the Goes Trophy for the past 60 years. The win was Cornell's 23rd.

“If you look at the names on the trophy, it’s sort of rotated around between the three schools regularly,” Syracuse head coach Dave Reischman said. “It’s always, always solid racing and tough competition.”

           

Morning of Fast Racing

           

            The varsity eights kicked things off for the morning with the Big Red taking the lead early and the No. 12 Midshipmen following closely behind. The No. 13 Orangemen struggled to keep up with the quick pace Cornell set and fell behind by a boat length. Cornell finished the race strong stopping the clock at 5:38.6 narrowly beating Navy who finished in 5:39.5. Syracuse covered the course in 5:49. 

            “I think we were putting in a lot more than were getting out,” SU four oar Aleksandr Staprans, said. “We were putting in a lot of effort and not quite getting the return that we wanted. [We wanted] just a bit more impulse, like from catch to finish, and getting as much speed as possible.”

            Navy hoped to keep the races close, head coach Rob Friedrich said..

            “Cornell is ranked higher than both of us and we’ve been gaining speed over the past couple of weeks,” Friedrich said. “We wanted to put up our best race today and I think we did. Our varsity made it very tough on Cornell and almost caught them at the end.”

            Syracuse’s 2V battled Navy for second place. The Orange answered every challenge from the Midshipmen. Cornell set the pace right off the stake boats, opening a boat length-and-a-half. The Big Red held the lead to the finish to recording a time of 5:47.0. The Orange crossed the line in 5:51.5, while Navy followed in 5:53.4.

"A tough day for us on Onondaga Lake," Reischman said. "Cornell and Navy are really strong programs. They did a great job today, so hats off to them. We didn't feel in the varsity eight quite as clean in our execution as last week (against Wisconsin.) We didn't settle down and move the boat like we were capable of.”

Honoring Rob and Sue Edson

            The morning included a dedication ceremony for two boats that honor Rob and Sue Edson. Rob worked Syracuse’s as chief financial officer and a senior associate director of athletics. While at Syracuse, he oversaw men’s soccer, as well as, the men’s and women’s rowing programs before becoming the athletic director Onondaga Community College. In 2013, Rob dies suddenly leaving behind his wife, Sue, and his two children Thomas and Tracey.
 

            “It’s quite overwhelming,” Associate Athletics Director for Communications, Sue Edson, said. “Doing this today just means the world to me. The people are what make the institution. The student athletes I get to work with, the coaches, the administrators, having our family here, it’s a really special thing.”

On to the next

Next week, the Orangemen hit the Charles River in Boston, Mass. to take on No. 8 Boston University and No. 18 Columbia for the Conlan Cup. Syracuse has won the cup 15 times within the last 26 years but the last time was in 2012.