The Orange come home to CNY with a victory from CMU.

By Lizzy Gomez

Fans at Kelly/Shorts Stadium in the first quarter.

More than half the fans who nearly filled Kelly/Shorts Stadium on Saturday prior to the noon kickoff between the Syracuse Orange and the Central Michigan Chippewas left their seats before the end of the third quarter. The first 15 minutes of the second half saw the visiting Orange offense and defense combine to score 16 points , bringing its lead to 33-3.

Chippewa fans continued to funnel out of the stadium just seconds after the start of the fourth quarter when the Syracuse defense batted down a CMU pass on 1st-and-10. Chants of, "Let's go Orange, let's go!" could be heard coming from the far west end of the stadium from fans clad in SU gear. The only action bringing Chippewa fans to their feet at this point in the game was a man on the field with a T-shirt cannon. He overshot his target a number of times and several T-shirts flew over the fans and out of the stadium to a chorus of boos.

Similar themes made up the majority of the afternoon for Chippewa fans in a game where not much went right for CMU. The Orange took home the victory, 40-3.

SU Head Coach Scott Shafer said he challenged the Orange defense to show what it could really do against the run after nearly losing to Villanova in double-overtime two weeks ago in the Carrier Dome.

“A physical football team that our fan base can say, ‘Ok, they’re back,'’” Shafer said. “‘They’re playing physical, tough, hard-nosed football, the way Syracuse kids should.’”

Players and coaches look on from the sidelines as the SU offense takes the field.

The only points the Chippewas put on the scoreboard on Saturday happened during CMU’s opening drive of the game, in which the Orange defense forced a field goal.

The CMU offense was missing wide receiver Titus Davis and leading rusher Thomas Rawls, who ran for 276 yards in his first two games of the season. Rawls was held out of the game because of an undisclosed "issue."

Syracuse failed to score during the first 15 minutes of play, but tied the game with a field goal by junior kicker Ryan Norton just 54 seconds into the second quarter.

The SU defense scored the first touchdown of the game after Eric Crume, senior defensive tackle originally from Detroit, sacked CMU quarterback Cooper Rush. The ball came loose and Syracuse freshman linebacker Marqez Hodge recovered it, hesitated, and then ran the ball back for a 36-yard touchdown.  

“I didn’t know he fumbled until I saw Hodge with the ball and he stopped for a second,” Crume said. “I thought it was an incomplete [pass]. Then he took off.”

Quarterback Terrel Hunt and the SU offense continued adding to SU’s 10-3 lead during the second quarter, while the Chippewas continued to struggle to find scoring opportunities.

Estime catches a 4-yard touchdown pass from Hunt before halftime.

Hunt connected with sophomore wide receiver Brisly Estime on a 4-yard touchdown pass to end a 13-play drive with less than two minutes remaining in the first half.

The Orange added to its 17-3 halftime lead early in the third quarter when senior linebacker Cameron Lynch forced an intentional grounding call against CMU after pressuring Rush in his own end zone. The play resulted in a safety for Syracuse, making the score 19-3.

The Orange went on to score two more touchdowns in the third quarter on the legs of Hunt, one of which came as the result of a fumble recovery by freshman free safety Rodney Williams. The two scores occurred just 33 seconds apart.

Hunt ran the ball into the end zone again in the final minute of the fourth quarter, resulting in the final score of 40-3 in favor of the Orange.

The SU quarterback ended the game making 20 of 30 passing attempts for 175 yards and one touchdown. He ran for 92 yards on 13 carries with three touchdowns, a career high.

“I wasn’t making moves more, I was just worried about getting a first down, moving the chains,” said Hunt before making a joke at his own expense. “Last time I made a move, I got kicked out.”

Hunt was ejected from SU’s game against Villanova two weeks ago for punching a wildcat player. He says CMU defensive lineman Louis Palmer taunted him about the incident during Saturday’s game, but Hunt maintained his composure and pointed at the scoreboard.

“That’s the easiest way to talk to them - look at the scoreboard,” Hunt said.

Kelly/Shorts Stadium in the second half of the game.

Senior running back Adonis Ameen-Moore rushed for 106 yards on nine carries, a career high.

“Adonis - I was so proud of him,” Hunt said. “I couldn’t wait for him to get out there.”

The Orange finished the day with 289 yards rushing and 175 yards through the air. Crume says the team managed to stay on track despite taking a flight and a 70-mile bus ride to Mount Pleasant, Mich., for the game.

“The hotel has sleep-number beds, so I think we were very focused,” Crume joked.

The Orange (2-0) hosts the Maryland Terrapins (2-1), formerly of the ACC and now in the Big Ten,  on September 20 in the Carrier Dome. The Terrapins lost at home on Saturday to the West Virginia Mountaineers, 40-37.

“We have to be a tough football team,” Shafer said. “I think at times we showed that today. We’re going to have to take it to a new level to reach our goals as we go week in, week out.”

SU XC Falls to Penn State Despite Big Performances

By Danielle Kennedy
Photo courtesy cuse.com

(State College, Pa. -)  For the first time in her Cross Country career, Syracuse University sophomore Sydney Leiher said she felt like a competitor. 

Even though she is the tallest on the team, standing nearly six-feet, you would never have spotted her at the front of a race. But, today at the Harry Groves Spiked Shoe Invitational, that changed.


Leiher's first-place finish among collegiate competitors led the Orange women to a second-place team finish, falling nine points behind the host team, Penn State

With Coach Chris Fox still holding out some of his top runners, Leihr opened up her season with a personal best by more than 20 seconds in the 6,000 meter (3.72 mile) race, finishing in a time of 21:01.

"Every Cross Country race I try not to die less and less, and now, for the first time in a 6k, I didn't feel that way," Leiher said.

The Orange had not competed at this meet since 2008, when both the men's and women's teams swept first, scoring a perfect 15 and 30 points respectively. 

Syracuse's runners didn't replicate those results today, but they did finish five runners in the top fifteen, including Seniors Maura Linde (5th, 21:25), Haley Cutright (9th, 21:38), Beth Wright (11th, 21:41), and Angelica Peck (12th, 21:43).  Three of Syracuse's top-five women will wait to make their season debut in two weeks at the Boston Inter-Regional meet, hosted by Boston College.  Leihr noted that these races early on in the season are not just rust-busters; They also help the women get used to racing as a team, something, she said, that they hope to do with a full squad in two weeks.     

Head Coach Chris Fox also agreed that today's race added to the depth of both the men's and women's teams.

Still holding out seven of their top-eight men, the Orange men finished second to Penn State by six points but managed to edge out No. 29 ranked Georgetown by one point.

Redshirt Sophomore Joel Hubbard made his 2014 season debut on a cold and raining morning, leading the men with a finishing time of 26:14 for second place over the 5.2 mile course. He was two seconds behind the Nittany Lions' Matt Fischer. Finishing close behind was Redshirt Freshman Colin Bennie who was third in 26:15, with Junior Dan Lennon sixth in 26:17. 

"The team ran really well today," Hubbard said.  "We had some really great R-Freshman compete so there's certainly a bright future in terms of talent."

The Orange men had only a 22-second spread between the first and seventh runner today, something that Coach Fox said he is glad to see, despite just missing the win.  

"You never like to lose, but overall, things went pretty well today," Fox said.  "We don't try to take too much from this one, and it's just another step for us...but Collin and Joel did prove they can run at a higher level." 

"It was a lot of fun to race as a team again," Hubbard said. "But, we are all really excited to go back to Boston."

Both teams will take next weekend off to prepare for their full-team debut at the Boston Inter-Regional meet.  The men and women are currently ranked as the No.1 team in the Northeast Region in the USTFCCCA Preseason Regional Rankings, which were released on August 25.  In the national polls, the SU women ranked No. 13, while the men ranked No. 8.

Week one of the USTFCCCA Regional Poll will be released on Monday and the national poll on Tuesday. 

Men's and Women's Results courtesy of runhigh.com

Chiefs fall to PawSox ending historic season

The Chiefs took the field for the last time in 2014 Friday night as their historic season came to an end with a 7-6 loss to Pawtucket in the semi-finals of the International League Playoffs. 

Story and Photo by Michael Castellano


8,269 fans packed NBT Bank Stadium on a hot, steamy Friday night, a number not often reached by the Nationals Triple-A affiliate. Rally towels were being waved, fireworks went off throughout the game, and the wave even made an appearance. But the Chiefs appearance still turned out to be the last of the year.

The Chiefs, down 0-2 in a best of five International League semi-final matchup, lost to the PawSox 7-6 ending their record-setting 2014 season.

Syracuse, who had the best record in the IL(81-62), made the playoffs for the first time since 1998 and had seven players called up to the Washington Nationals when rosters expanded last Monday.

"To get there[the playoffs], to win the division; you can only take away positive things from this season," Chiefs manager Billy Gardner, Jr. said.

Their season looked as if it would be extended when the Chiefs took an early 4-0 lead due in large part to a 2-RBI double by Will Rhymes. The PawSox quickly cut into that deficit scoring two runs in the third and another in the fourth cutting the lead to 4-3.

Trailing 6-4, Pawtucket scored three runs in the top of the seventh highlighted by a 2-RBI single off the bat of Ryan Lavarney scoring Travis Shaw and Bryce Brentz giving the PawSox a 7-6 lead.

"We just couldn't protect the lead," Billy Gardner said. "Our guys competed, we battled, but we just came up short."

Syracuse threatened in the bottom of the eighth. With Brandon Laird on second Jhonathan Solano hit a sharp ground ball to second base in which Pawtucket's Ryan Roberts made a diving play to keep the score at 7-6.

Heath Hembree retired the Chiefs in order in the bottom of the ninth ending the Chiefs season and moving Pawtucket into the International League Finals.

Mitch Lively gave up three runs on four hits in only three and two thirds innings while surrendering four walks to PawSox batters.

Emmanuel Burriss went 4-5 with a double, home run, and 2 RBIs to lead the Chiefs.

The PawSox will play the winner of the other semi-finals matchup between the Durham Bulls and Columbus Clippers. Durham leads the series 2-1.

Chiefs fans gave the players a standing O after the final out followed by the last fireworks show of the season.

"This community I know loves baseball," pitching coach Paul Menhart said. "To see the support they've shown us when it was basically no one in April and May and to have 5,000 plus tonight, you can't say enough about our fans."

The Chiefs will begin their 54th season next spring in Syracuse and 19th at NBT Bank Stadium.

SU Volleyball 5-1 Going Into Weekend Tournament

By Jessica Eley

Junior outside hitter, Silvi Uattara

The SU women's volleyball team is on a four match winning streak and is 5-1 overall heading into its next competition this weekend and
Silva Uattara is a big reason for SU's success.

Uattara, a 6'0' junior outside hitter from Russia is leading the team in kills with 102, 30 more than the next highest player, Monika Salkute.

Uattara said she can't say she's the leader of the team because the leader can only be chosen by the team. She has received all-tournament honors at the last two tournaments for her play.

"I've been talking with Gosia (Wlaszczuk), our setter, a lot and she says she feels pretty confident to set me...I feel like it's a huge responsibility of course and I'm trying to do my best," Uattara said.

This time last year, the Orange volleyball team was 1-5. The team didn't win its fifth match until its last tournament before conference play.

Last weekend's sweep of DePaul, Illinois-Chicago and Chicago State in Chicago followed home wins in the Big Orange Tournament against Delaware State and Niagara two weeks ago. The Orange's one loss was to Temple, by a 3-2 score at the Big Orange Tournament.

Uattara said she credits some of the team's success to bonding activities the players have participated in outside of practice. She said they've had a lot of birthday on the team during the pre-season, so they've done things like going to the movies, shopping together at the mall and going out to dinner.

"We're communicating better, we're treating each other better off the court...it helps us to understand each other's strengths and weaknesses," Uattara said.

Uattara got ready for practice at the Carmelo K. Anthony Center, before making her way with her teammates to the steamy, un-air conditioned gym inside of the Women's Building on SU's campus for their Wednesday practice.

She said at practice they would work on what they've been working on all week...not giving up runs of points. Although the team has played well enough to win its last four contests, Uattara said there still are some weaknesses the team needs to improve on. She said they have they've been playing mini games with their coach. Playing mini games stresses the importance going on runs and stopping the opposing side from going on a run.

That was an issue in the loss to Temple. There were nine lead changes in the fifth and deciding set and the Orange was unable to capitalize on its mini runs.

The fifth set only goes to 15 points unlike the 25 in the other four sets. The team who wins three sets first wins the match. A match is the volleyball term for game.

Uattara attacks the ball against Niagara

"Sometimes we can be leading in a lot of points, lose a lot of points in a row, then we're leading again," Uattara said. "So I think we'll have to improve on this more...we're trying to play short games with coach, so we can actually improve on this stuff."

Uattara knows what the team needs to work on, but she said she also knows that despite her all-conference accolades last year, she can work to become a better player.

"I'm trying to work on defensive and passing skills, because I think that takes mental readiness," Uattara said.

She has improved from finishing sixth on the team in digs her freshman year to third in digs as a sophomore and is leading the team in digs this season. A player collects a dig when the opposing team attacks the ball and the player defending her side of the court doesn't let the ball hit the ground.

Since arriving in America her freshman year from Russia, Uattara also has improved her English.

Voronezh, Russian Federation, where Uattara is from is located in the southwestern region of the country, closest to Ukraine.

"I felt a language barrier my freshman year, " she said."I felt uncomfortable talking and trying to explain things to my teammates and communicating with them at first."

She said she is more confident than ever now. "Right now in my junior year, I've improved in this and it's not a problem to me anymore."

Uattara said she feels being an international player on the team is even more responsibility because she is trying to represent her country well.

The Orange heads next to the Xavier tournament in Cincinnati where it will face the Buckeyes of Ohio State on Friday, Xavier and Ohio University on Saturday.

Course Records Fall as Two Top-Ten XC Teams in the Country Face Off for the First Time This Season

Start of the Boys Varsity & JV Race at Long Branch Park (c) Danielle Kennedy

By: Danielle Kennedy
 

Two hours after the race ended, Rick Streeter rolled up cables, disassembled the giant black clock at the finish line and loaded them into his baby blue van with the Leone Timing logo stamped on the side.  The results had been posted and most of the runners had already left Long Branch Park, but those who were left cleaned up in shock, wondering if the reason for such fast, recording breaking times was because the fleshly groomed cross country course was measured a bit too short.

"No," replied Tracey Vannatta, head coach of the Liverpool Men's Cross Country Team.  "There are just some really fast guys."

On an overcast and breezy Wednesday afternoon, three runners from Section 3 kicked off their 2014 Cross Country Season by shattering the 5k (3.1 mile) course record at Long Branch, which was set back in 2002 by Dominic Luka of Tully High School with a time of 15:37.  Senior Bryce Millar (F-M) was the winner of the meet among Baldwinsville, Liverpool, and Fayetteville-Manlius, crossing the line with a time of 15:12.1.  His teammate, Peter Ryan (Jr.) finished right behind him in a time of 15:14.3.  Next was Ben Petrella, a Junior from Liverpool, who managed to clinch third place with a time of 15:32.4.  Petrella's best-finishing time also earned him a school record for the Long Branch course, knocking Dan McKenna's time of 15:43 (also set back in 2002) to the number two spot on the school's Top 25 list.

But with training just into getting into full-swing, Petrella said the outcomes of races this early in the season have little value, yet the experience they provide will make a big impact come championship season. 

"I told myself from the start that I was going to go out hard and hold on as long as I could, just to train [myself] because later on in the season, that's what we have to do," Petrella said. "If you want to finish with the big dogs then you have to start with the big dogs.  My whole running career, I've always started out slow and tried to catch up and this year I want to change up my strategy."

For Bryce Millar (F-M), racing alongside second-place finisher Pete Ryan is what helped him maintain confidence when things got tough.

"I felt pretty controlled throughout the whole thing, especially with my teammate Pete Ryan right with me so it was like we were back at practice...It's really nice 'cause since you're just so used to running with him and you almost kind of forget about the pain you're feeling when you're running and you just know you can 'go' and stay right there where he is and everything will be fine."

F-M put six of its runners in the top-ten Wednesday, including Adam Hunt (Sr.) in fourth place, Kyle Barber (Sr.) in fifth, Riley Hughes (Sr.) in seventh. As for Liverpool, Connor Buck (Sr.) finished sixth, Dan Muldoon (Sr.) eighth, and Dylan McCarthy (Sr.) ninth.  Baldwinsville's first runner, senior Arden Kellner, finished thirteenth. 

Fayetteville-Manlius is currently ranked the No. 1 team in New York State and No. 2 in the country. Liverpool is not far behind, ranked as the No. 2 team in the State and the No. 8  in the country, according to tullyrunners.com.  Last year, both teams competed at Nike Cross Country Nationals in Portland, Oregon, with F-M finishing in fourth place and Liverpool in twentieth.

Although F-M Coach Bill Aris said he is satisfied with a season-opening 19-37 win over Liverpool and 15-50 win over Baldwinsville, he says there is still a lot of work that needs to be done. 

"You can't take a September 10th dual meet all too seriously other than going out and giving it our best effort,"Aris said. "Ideally, you want to win, but the priorities are on the rest of the season."  

Liverpool's Coach Vannatta also noted that it's never fun to lose, but said the progress the team has made in just one year keeps the future of its season looking bright.

"If we can run as well as we ran today, now, any other year we've never been near where we ran today," she said.

Full Meet Results,  courtesy of Leone Timing

No. 5 SU Field Hockey Opens ACC Play This Friday at No. 1 UNC

Story by Robin Deehan

Photo courtesy cuse.com 

The fifth-ranked Syracuse field hockey team is set to open conference play this weekend at ACC rival, and number one team in the country, North Carolina (4-0) in a battle of the unbeaten.

In the new Penn Monto/NFHCA rankings released today UNC rose to the top spot after beating former No. 1 Maryland 3-1 this past weekend.  SU held steady at No. 5 for the second week in a row.

The Orange women are on a six game win streak scoring a combined 28 goals in the process.

This will be the conference opener for both teams and the importance of a win is not lost on Jordan Page.

“Last year we lost our first ACC game to Boston College and it was just kind of a downer for us, but I think going into Carolina and wanting to open up with a win is definitely what we’d like to do,” Page said.

A Rivalry is Born

Last year, SU’s inaugural ACC season, the Orange closed out the regular season with a 1-0 win at home against the Tar Heels.  Six days later SU met UNC again in the ACC semi-final and lost 1-0.

“I think we definitely created a rivalry with them, we just really enjoy playing against them,” Page said.  “It’s always a really good game and we’re just really excited to get to go down there and play and open up ACC play.”

Lauren Brooks (photo) is the team’s leading scorer with seven goals so far this season and says she is ready for her shot at the number one team in the country.

“I’m really excited, we need to prepare hard this week, really focus on what they’re working with, and then focus on our game, and just make sure we come out prepared and strong,” Brooks said.

Preparation

The Orange women have six games under their belt, the first four in the course of just five days while on the road, and that was no accident.

“You have to look at it as, it’s your first conference game and you want to be able to get the bye in the conference because that tournament is grueling,” head coach Ange Bradley said.  “That’s what we practiced last week, four games in that time frame, to be able to do it in the beginning so if something happened that we’re not in first, we know we can do it in the end to hoist that trophy over our heads.”

For SU, executing the game plan is key, and every conference game counts for the team to have life in November.

“I think we just prepare and it’s about Syracuse getting better right now and we’ve got a lot of things to work on,” Bradley said. “Chances are real good we’ll see Carolina in the ACC tournament and if we’re fortunate, in postseason; so it’s about November not September.”

Game time set for 5pm. Friday.  

Syracuse Women’s Soccer Team Gets Victory in First Game Since Hanna Strong’s Suspension

By Julia Morris

Erin Simon tries to dribble past a defender (c) Julia Morris

It took two overtimes but the Syracuse women’s soccer team (3-1-2) managed to get another win Sunday morning, defeating the University of Vermont Catamounts (2-3) by a score of 3-2. If the shadow of controversy affected the SU performance no one would say so.

The Orange has been the subject of national conversation this weekend after senior midfielder Hanna Strong was caught on video using racial and homophobic slurs. Syracuse athletic director Daryl Gross issued a statement saying Strong had been suspended indefinitely from the team and that "Syracuse Athletics, as a strong and diverse part of this University community, has zero tolerance for these actions." 

Syracuse Coach Phil Wheddon spoke briefly about the incident after the game.

"The University has made a statement," Wheddon said. "We stand by our university’s policy and we support Dr. Gross and the Chancellor.”

When asked specifically about Strong as a person, Wheddon responded that he would only discuss players that were present at the game.  None of the Orange players was available for post-game interviews.

Taylor Haenlin kicks the ball down the field (c) Julia Morris

Syracuse jumped out to an early lead scoring two goals in the first half - both on follow-up plays.  About eight minutes into the game, Junior Maya Pitts shot the ball at the goal, but it bounced off the top of the post and then back to her.  Pitts took advantage of the second chance opportunity and headed the ball into the net for her first goal of the season, putting the Orange ahead 1-0. 

A few minutes later, forward Stephanie Skilton, who was coming off a five point performance in the Orange's previous game against UMass-Lowell, rebounded her own shot and kicked the ball into the lower right hand corner of the net for a score. The goal was the sophomore's 14th of her career and put the Orange up 2-0.  

Syracuse had nine other shots and one corner kick in the first half but could not convert.  Vermont managed to only get two shots off in the half.

Despite the Orange's ability to control the Catamounts' offense in the first half, the second half was a different story as Syracuse struggled to finish while Vermont capitalized on its opportunities.

“I don’t think they really had a dangerous opportunity in the first half and then we managed to let them back in the game," Wheddon said.

With 33:46 left in the 2nd half, Catamount freshman forward Rylee Osgood passed the ball to fellow freshman Sarah Martin, who kicked the ball into the far left corner of the net to make the score 2-1.  Then with only 5:24 left in regulation Vermont evened the score when freshman midfielder Jessica Silverman shot the ball into the upper right corner of the net for her second goal in as many games.  The two goals for Vermont came on only six shots, while the Orange shot 12 times but did not score. After the game, Wheddon said the Orange had too many missed chances.

“We had tons and tons of opportunities," Wheddon said. "We’ve got to be more clinical for sure."

The game headed into overtime as the score remained 2-2 at the end of regulation.  The Orange was looking for its first overtime victory this season, having tied with Missouri and Connecticut in previous extra time contests.   

In the first overtime, the Catamounts could not manage to get any shots off, and the Orange missed the goal on its five chances.  Vermont goalie Ally Ramos made several spectacular stops, including a diving save with 4:32 left in the first overtime.  Wheddon took note of Ramos' hustle and how difficult she made it for the Orange to score.

"Give credit to their goalkeeper…(she) pulled off some world class saves."
    

After the scoreless draught in the second half and first overtime, the Orange finally finished with 7:46 left in the second overtime.  Forward Alex LaMontagne flew down the field on a breakaway and slid the ball into the lower right corner of the net, ending the game and giving the Orange a 3-2 victory.  The goal was LaMontagne's third of the season.  Wheddon said after the game that the freshman has many favorable qualities that make her an asset to the team.

“She’s an athletic specimen, she’s dangerous, she’s competitive, she’s everything you would want out of a forward and she picked her spot on that last goal. I’m thrilled for her and I’m pleased that we have her and we’re not playing against her."  

The Orange will travel to Hamilton again on Thursday to face Colgate at 7pm.  The Catamounts' next match is Saturday in Connecticut against Quinnipiac. The start of the game is 1pm.