TOWSON, Md. - The Tigers were hoping to earn their first-ever win against 11th-ranked Syracuse on Tuesday afternoon and battled the Orange to a 2-2 tie through the first half. However, the Orange scored nine goals in a strong second half to spoil the Tigers' upset plans with an 11-5 victory over Towson at Johnny Unitas Stadium.

Freshman attacker Alyssa Murray recorded the first "hat trick" of her college career by scoring three goals and added two assists as the Orange earned their first road win of the year while snapping a three-game losing streak.   

"We had some chances today, especially in the second half, and we didn't capitalize on them," Towson Coach Sonia LaMonica said. "Again, we had some issues clearing the ball and it hurt us."

The teams traded goals twice in a low-scoring first half. After senior attacker Jess Dunn gave the Tigers a 1-0 lead just 37 seconds into the game, sophomore attacker Michelle Tumolo tied the game just under two minutes off an assist from senior attacker Tee Ladouceur.

Sophomore midfielder Kelly Custer regained the Tigers' one-goal lead with an unassisted goal before Murray evened the score with 3:59 remaining in the first half on a free-position shot.

The Orange scored three goals in the first six minutes of the second half to take a 5-2 lead before sophomore midfielder Ashley Waldron and freshman midfielder Katie Leech countered with back-to-back goals to narrow the margin to 5-4 with 20:53 left in the second half.

But, the Orange scored five straight goals, including a pair of markers from Murray, over a 15-minute span to take a 10-4 lead with 4:24 remaining.

Dunn scored her second goal of the game with 3:53 remaining to end the Orange run, but the Tigers were unable to get any closer. Syracuse added an insurance goal with 1:08 remaining when freshman midfielder Katie Webster scored her third goal of the game, an unassisted marker past junior goalkeeper Mary Teeters.

While Murray paced Syracuse with her season-high five-point performance, Webster earned her second "hat trick" of the season by scoring three goals.

Dunn scored two goals to lead the Tigers while Teeters made five saves.

Syracuse outshot Towson by a 25-18 margin while the Tigers had an 11-7 advantage in draw controls.

The Tigers will travel to the University of Richmond on Saturday afternoon for a 1 p.m. non-conference game against the Spiders. Meanwhile, the Orange will continue its six-game road trip on Saturday at the University of Florida. \