The last time the Syracuse field hockey team played at Trager Stadium, it reached the highest point the program has ever achieved. On the frostbit turf in Louisville, Ky., the field which hosted the final four last November, the Orange bowed out in the national semifinals to then-No. 2 Wake Forest, 3-2, in overtime.

A memory a program would seemingly like to remember. To look back on, and not only cherish, but also learn from.

Thus far in 2009, however, head coach Ange Bradley has taken a different approach. She has preached to the Orange that this is a new year. A new team. That for now, if the squad is to rekindle that success that propelled them to the icy field in Louisville, it must, to an extent, block out what occurred last year.

Thanks to the program’s mentality, when SU (5-1) returns to Trager Stadium on Friday to open up Big East play, it appears as if the game won’t represent one of remembrance, but instead one of rebirth. For Bradley and the team’s lone senior Tracy Deitrick, it will be the start of something new.

‘Honestly, I think we are just excited to start Big East play,’ Deitrick said. ‘We are going in starting out zero and zero, and we are ready to start up our season. This is the part that counts. We are just really excited to get there and win.’

Syracuse will take on the home team, No. 16 Louisville (4-3) Friday at 4 p.m. The Orange will then play a neutral site game against Michigan (2-4) at 3 p.m. on Saturday.

‘The Big East is where it all starts again,’ SU assistant coach Lynn Farquhar said. ‘It is a great conference, so the girls are looking forward to it.’

It will be Syracuse’s first away game since August – a stretch of time spanning almost three weeks in which SU nestled in at the friendly confines of J.S. Coyne Field. The Orange finished the homestand with a 3-1 record and tied the program mark for consecutive-overtime games at four.

Even though there has been an abundance of extra session games already this year, the team never had to play past 70 minutes until the NCAA tournament in 2008.

A record breaking fifth-consecutive overtime game, and the team’s second in a row in Louisville, is possible. If it happens, Farquhar feels it’ll just be another experience on a new quest SU will have to deal with.

‘I wouldn’t say we try to or not to go into overtime,’ Farquhar said. ‘We play a very tough schedule. We have had top 10 teams in (J.S. Coyne Field), so we found a way and that’s all you can ask for. In overtime or in regulation.’

Friday will also mark the squad’s first time it will defend its Big East regular season and tournament championships against a member of the conference. Last year, the Orange defeated Louisville, 3-0, en route to a 22-2 year, and a No.1 ranking along the way.

This year, the vibe prior to Big East play has been vastly different, as the Orange has become the team others are looking to chop down. This season, thanks to the success Syracuse attained last year, the Orange will be the team with the bull’s eye on its back – the team other Big East squads will play against with a chip on their shoulder.

But Farquhar doesn’t think any pressure from the No. 1 selection will affect SU.

‘No, it is not about pressure,’ Farquhar said. ‘It is about competing every day, and no matter what you’re ranking is at the start, it’s the one at the end that counts.’

And when Shelby Schraden and the rest of the Orange return to the stadium in Louisville Friday for the first time since that fateful game last November, they can be confident the frigid temperatures won’t greet them. Even if a hostile mentality from their first conference opponent does.

Forecasts are predicting temperatures hovering around 80 degrees with a chance of showers – a far cry from the frosty chilling tundra they faltered on in late November.

‘We are not thinking about the Big East championship right now,’ Schraden said. ‘We are thinking about Louisville, and if we come away with a win, we will be off to a good start.’

aolivero@syr.edu

Published on September 18, 2009 at 12:00 pm