The Syracuse field hockey team has been flawless this season, and now the Orange’s ranking reflects that.

Syracuse climbed to No. 1 in the newest National Field Hockey Coaches Association (STX/NFHCA) poll released Tuesday. It’s the first time SU (14-0, Big East 3-0-0) has ever topped the national polls, and the culmination of an unblemished start that has seen the Orange rise 17 spots from its preseason rank of No. 18. Before this season, Syracuse had never risen above No. 9 in the national polls.

Perhaps even more historic, the field hockey team became the first Syracuse women’s program, regardless of sport, to climb to No. 1 in the national polls in school history.

‘I think it’s pretty cool,’ head coach Ange Bradley said. ‘I told the kids, and hearing it today, I think it’s pretty neat. I don’t think it will truly sink in until we look back and see what the 2008 campaign had done, but it’s exciting and my kids are excited.’

The Orange received the most first place votes (34), taking over the position formerly held by No. 2 Maryland. The Terrapins (11-2) lost, 3-2, to No. 5 Duke Saturday.

The No. 1 ranking seems a fitting reward for a Syracuse team that has dominated opponents in almost every statistical category this season. Aside from being the lone undefeated team in the country, the Orange leads the NCAA in scoring average, goals per game, margin of victory, points per game and assists per game. Bradley’s team has already obliterated the previous school record of 58 goals in a season, tallying 82 scores so far, compared to 14 goals allowed.

Defensively, Syracuse ranks in the top five in goals against, shutouts per game and goalie save percentage.

‘We’re constantly breaking records, and we’re always doing something new,’ sophomore back Maggie Befort said. ‘We’re the first to do this and the first to do that. But for us to do this is really special.’

For Bradley, it is the coach’s first time reaching the plateau as a Division I head coach. She was a part of top-ranked teams as an assistant coach at Maryland before becoming head coach at Richmond.

‘It’s nice to be able to have the hard work of my staff and my team and the team behind our team recognized,’ said Bradley, who is in her second season at Syracuse. ‘But again, it’s not a goal until November.’

The accolades come at a time when the Orange is preparing for arguably its biggest game of the season Saturday against Big East rival No. 9 Connecticut at J.S. Coyne Stadium. Syracuse follows the UConn matchup with another home game against Holy Cross on Sunday.

Bradley said although its nice to be the class of the NCAA now, her team is hard at work preparing for faceoff with the Huskies.

‘Getting a result at UConn would be a big step toward being regular-season Big East champions,’ Bradley said. ‘We took a moment to enjoy what happened today, but we also know that we’re the underdogs going in to this weekend. UConn is the powerhouse of the Big East, and we have to prove that we belong here.’

ctorr@syr.edu

Published on October 14, 2008 at 12:00 pm