SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The Tigers were hoping to celebrate being ranked in the top ten for the first time in school history with a victory over eighth-ranked Syracuse on Wednesday afternoon. However, the eighth-ranked Orange (4-1) spoiled the Tigers' plans by scoring 11 goals in the first half en route to an 18-10 victory over Towson (4-1) in the Carrier Dome.
Junior attacker Tee Ladouceur scored four goals and added a career-high six assists as Syracuse won its second straight game.
Led by two goals from Ladouceur and senior midfielder Christina Dove, the Orange sprinted to a 6-0 lead in the opening 11 minutes of the game. Junior attacker Jess Dunn responded for the Tigers by scoring two goals in a 35-second span to cut the margin to 6-2.
But, the Orange held Towson scoreless for the final 15 minutes of the opening half and scored five unanswered goals to take a commanding nine-goal lead at the intermission.
Just over three minutes into the second half, Dunn snapped a nearly 19-minute scoring drought for the Tigers with her third goal of the game off a feed from senior attacker Jacie Kendall.
However, the Orange countered by scoring three goals in a row to extend the advantage to 14-3 with 22:48 remaining.
After the teams exchanged goals in a 69-second span, the Tigers trimmed the deficit to 15-6 with back-to-back free-position goals from Dunn and senior midfielder Steph Taylor.
Syracuse upped the lead to 18-7 by scoring three of the next four goals before Dunn and senior midfielder Hillary Fratzke teamed up to score three Towson goals in the final 75 seconds.
While Ladouceur led the Orange with a career-high ten-point effort, Dove added a career-high six goals with three assists for Syracuse. Junior midfielder Lindsey Connell recorded the first “hat trick” of her college career by scoring four goals with one assist.
Junior goalkeeper Liz Hogan matched a career high by making 14 saves for the Orange as Syracuse was outshot by a 28-27 margin.
Dunn led the Tigers with a career-high six goals while Fratzke contributed the 36th “hat trick” of her college career with three goals and an assist. Sophomore goalkeeper Mary Teeters made eight saves in the loss for Towson, which had won its last nine regular season games.
The Tigers will return home on Saturday afternoon to host the University of Richmond at Johnny Unitas® Stadium at 1 p.m. Meanwhile, the Orange will continue a four-game homestand by hosting top-ranked Northwestern University on Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m.
College Women's Lacrosse: #8 Syracuse University 18, #10 Towson University 10
Towson (4-1) 2-8 / 10
Syracuse (4-1) 11-7 / 18
Goals: TOW – Jess Dunn 6, Hillary Fratzke 3, Steph Taylor 1; SYR – Christina Dove 6, Tee Ladouceur 4, Lindsey Connell 4, Michelle Tumolo 3, Tegan Brown 1. Assists: TOW – Hillary Fratzke 1, Jacie Kendall 1; SYR – Tee Ladouceur 6, Christina Dove 3, Lindsey Connell 1, Halley Quillinan 1, Michelle Tumolo 1. Saves: TOW – Mary Teeters 8 (60:00, 10 goals allowed); SYR – Liz Hogan 14 (57:27, 7 goals allowed), Lisa Mullan 0 (2:33, 3 goals allowed). Shots: TOW – 28; SYR – 27. Free Position Shots: TOW – 2 for 6; SYR – 4 for 5. Attendance: 218.
Post-Game Notes:
• With the win on Wednesday, the Orange have won all six meetings against Towson, including all four games played at the Carrier Dome … They have allowed just 29 Towson goals in their four home wins in the series.
• The Tigers are now 4-8 all-time in games played on St. Patrick's Day.
• Wednesday's game marked the first time this season the Tigers have allowed the game's first goal … Since the start of last season, the Tigers are 10-2 when scoring first.
• The Tigers have outshot their opponent in four of the first five games this season … Only Johns Hopkins has outshot the Tigers this season.
• The Tigers had won their last 12 games when scoring at least ten goals prior to Wednesday … Since the start of last season, the Tigers are 16-3 when reaching double digits … Two of the three losses have come against Syracuse.
• Fratzke extended her scoring streaks with a three-goal effort on Wednesday … She has now scored a goal in 53 consecutive games while recording a point in all 59 games of her college career … The 53-game goal-scoring streak is the fourth-longest streak in NCAA Division I history while her 59-game point-scoring streak is tied for the longest active streak in NCAA Division … Denver's Ali Flury also has a 59-game streak.
• With her three goals on Wednesday, Fratzke has now scored 13 goals with four assists against Syracuse in her career.
• Fratzke has now scored 11 of her 15 goals this season on the road … Meanwhile, Dunn has scored nine of her team-high 16 goals away from Unitas Stadium.
• Fratzke also tallied the 50th multi-goal game of her college career on Wednesday afternoon … It was also the 52nd time in 59 career games she has recorded more than one point.
• Dunn has scored ten goals in the last two games … She has needed just 12 shots to score those goals … On the season, Dunn is now shooting 72.7 per cent by making 16 of 22 attempts.
• Senior midfielder Nikki Marcinik had her streak of 25 straight games with a point snapped against the Orange on Wednesday … It was the first time she had been held without a point since May 2, 2008 against George Mason in the Colonial Athletic Association semi-finals.
• Dove recorded a point for the 45th straight game, which is the fifth-longest active streak in NCAA Division I … She also became the second player in Syracuse history to score over 200 career goals … Dove also extended her streak of consecutive games with a goal to 45 in a row.
• Dove has now scored 26 goals with seven assists in her career against Towson … She has scored six goals in each of the last two meetings against the Tigers.
