Defense Leads No. 7 Cuse Past UConn
from press release
STORRS, Conn. – The Syracuse defense
forced 17 turnovers and allowed just one goal in each half on its
way to an 11-2 win against Connecticut in Storrs, Conn. on Friday,
April 9. The win improves seventh-ranked Syracuse’s record to
7-3 overall, 2-0 in BIG EAST play and gives the Orange its first
three-game winning streak of the season. Connecticut goes to 7-5
overall and 0-3 in conference play.
The two goals are the fewest Syracuse has allowed in a game this
season. The last time the Orange allowed two goals in a game was
last season when it defeated California, 18-2. Syracuse has now
allowed two or less goals in a half six times this season.
Senior Halley Quillinan was in the middle of the action on both
ends of the field. She paced the offense with three goals to go
along with three caused turnovers, four ground balls and one draw
control. Junior Tee Ladouceur recorded a game-high four points on
two goals and two assists.
Syracuse dominated the first half. Freshman Michelle Tumolo started
the scoring with an unassisted goal at the 27:18 mark. Senior
Christina Dove netted her first goal of the game on a free position
shot before Quillinan scored on an assist from Ladouceur to give SU
a 3-0 lead with 23:44 remaining. M.E. Lapham converted a free
position attempt to cut the lead to two, 3-1, with 22:26 on the
clock. That would be Connecticut’s only goal of the half as
Syracuse outscored the Huskies, 4-0, during the next 22:26 to take
a 7-1 lead into the locker room at halftime. Tumolo scored on a
pass from Ladouceur, and then assisted on Tegan Brown’s goal.
Ladouceur netted the final two goals of the half, the second on an
assist from Dove, to give the Orange a six-goal advantage.
Connecticut struck first in the second half, cutting the lead to
7-2 as Katie Devaney found the back of the net at the 27:41 mark
for what would be the Huskies final goal of the game. While the
defense was shutting down UConn, the Orange’s offense
continued to build on its lead. Brown and Quillinan scored
unassisted goals to increase SU’s lead to 9-2 with 11:36
remaining. Dove recorded her second free position goal of the day
before Quillinan scored the final goal of the game on an assist
from Brown with 25 seconds left on the clock for the 11-2
final.
“The defense stepped up and played its best game of the
year,” said Syracuse head coach Gary Gait. “The offense
executed when it needed to.”
Dove had two goals and an assist and extended her streak of
consecutive games played with a goal to 49. Brown and Tumolo also
finished with two goals and one assist apiece. For Brown, it was
the first assist of her career.
Syracuse outshot Connecticut, 27-12, and picked up 14 ground balls
to 11 for the Huskies. In addition, the Orange won 9-of-15 draw
controls. Goalkeeper Liz Hogan recorded four saves for Syracuse,
while Jenna Moulton had nine saves for Connecticut.
