Syracuse Downs Penn to Face Loyola in NCAA quarterfinals

Photos by Jiayang Zhang
Syracuse, N.Y. - 
Playing at the SU Soccer Stadium after a pouring rain, the No. 3/3 Syracuse University women’s lacrosse team beat the No. 15/14 Pennsylvania Quakers 13-10 Sunday afternoon. The Orange now gets a rematch Loyola in the Carrier Dome next week for a spot in NCAA Final Four. Loyola upset SU in the regular season finale.

Kayla Treanor and Tory Bensen led Syracuse and Pennsylvania offense respectively, both scoring four goals. Treanor also registered two assists and won several draws for the Orange. 

Syracuse came out quick with Treanor’s goal 50 seconds into the game. The Quakers responded quickly as well with a goal by Catherine Dickinson one minute later. The two teams scored in turn in the first eight minutes until Dickinson registered another goal to give the Quakers a two-point lead. But that was the best for Pennsylvania. The Orange kept pressuring the Quakers, earning five free positions in the first half and scored three of them. After Halle Majorana fired a shot through a crowd to tie the game, the Orange never let the game slip away from it. By the end of the first half, Syracuse already led Pennsylvania by two points. 

Syracuse came back in the second half to control the first ten minutes of the game. But the Quakers never gave up. They fought back to avoid falling behind too far. Bensen helped Pennsylvania stay in the game while improving her personal record to 58 goals. Although the Quakers won more draws than the Orange, they were not able to turn the game around.   

“I thought it was a really hard-fought game,” Pennsylvania head coach Karin Corbett said. “And it was an exciting game for everybody to watch. My team were in it the whole time. If a couple of shots went the 

other way, it could be a different outcome.”

But she also admitted that their finishing was a major concern. The Quakers’ shots went wide several times and they hit two pipes. Corbett said her team limited most of Syracuse offensive players except for Treanor, a five finalists  for the 2015 Tewaaraton Award.

“She is too dangerous,” Corbett said. “I think we left her alone a little bit.” 

The leading scorer of the Quakers, Bensen agreed that their final shot should be improved. She was frustrated about the result since the graduated players could not play any more games.

“But it’s not a question of lack of focus or heart,” Bensen said. “We didn’t have those final pushes. Despite the frustration, we walked out holding our heads high.” 

Besides attacking and trying to score, Treanor shared several draws with draw  specialist Kailah Kempney during the game.

“We tried to balance it,” Treanor said. “If Kailah is struggling a little bit, I can take one off of her to let her relax so she can come back later and take more.”

“Penn is a well-coached team,” Treanor said. “They came out ready to play. All the credit to them, but luckily we started to turn things around and things started to going our way.”

After eliminating Pennsylvania, Syracuse is going to face Loyola again in NCAA quarterfinals. It would be their second encounter in two weeks. The Orange lost to Loyola in the regular season finale by one goal at the SU Soccer Stadium last Saturday. Syracuse players crave a revenge. This time, they will go back to their home field - the Carrie Dome.

“Dome is our home field,” Syracuse head coach Gary Gait said. “We are a pretty quick team. We are much better offensively and defensively on a solid surface. The wet field at the first half really slowed us down. But we thank our soccer program for lending us the field.”

Up Next

Syracuse is going to take on Loyola next weekend in NCAA Tournament quarterfinals.