Iona Holloway threw her clenched right fist in the air as her teammates swarmed her. The backbone of the Orange defense was sure to take in the moment after her first goal of the season.

“I always think that the girls on our team don’t celebrate goals enough,” she said. “I love scoring goals and I don’t get to do much of it. So when I do, it’s a good time.”

Holloway and the No. 2 Orange (7-0) cruised to a 7-1 victory over Kent State (4-5) on Sunday afternoon in front of 274 at J.S. Coyne Stadium. Holloway was one of six different players who scored for SU in the dominant win in which the Orange outshot the Golden Flashes 33-2. Syracuse’s explosive offense keyed the team to a 5-2 victory over Villanova on Friday.

“This team has amazing chemistry,” head coach Ange Bradley said.

Liz McInerney led the offensive attack, recording an assist on three of the Orange’s four first-half goals in addition to scoring her own goal less than a minute into the second half.

Six minutes into the game, McInerney dribbled around her defender and along the end line, then found an open Lauren Brooks on the left post for the finish. Two minutes later, Emma Russell hit a perfect, off-handed cross pass just past Kent State goaltender Jahna Jordan, and Kelsey Millman knocked it in for a 2-0 lead.

In the 15th minute, McInerney deflected a pass to a wide-open Jordan Page, who found the back of the net for the first of her two goals. Holloway’s goal then gave the Orange a 4-0 lead at the half.

“Liz has been trying to hit my deflection line and luckily I got that one,” Holloway said. “After that, they locked onto me, but it was great to get my first goal.”

Holloway said she needed to stay focused and control emotions after scoring a goal. The senior said the team always looks to maintain possession after a goal and then steadily pass the ball around to direct the tempo of the game.

Syracuse stayed in control coming out of the break.

In the opening minute of the second half, McInerney extended the lead to five when she found the left corner of the cage from the top of the shooting circle.

The Golden Flashes responded with a penalty corner goal scored by Julia Hofmann, who beat diving Syracuse goalie Leann Stiver for the team’s first score.

“I take total responsibility for that,” Stiver said. “Fortunately, the offense had enough goals where it wasn’t a damper on our day.”

With the possibility of a shutout gone, freshman Jess Jacko replaced Stiver for the final 28 minutes of the game and didn’t face a single shot.

Syracuse back Anna Crumb added the team’s sixth goal with less than nine minutes remaining. About one minute later, Page scored the seventh and final goal for Syracuse, capping an impressive offensive performance this weekend.

“I think we came out much better than we did on Friday,” Stiver said. “Today was a great win.”

Published on September 17, 2012 at 2:43 am

Contact Phil: pmdabbra@syr.edu | @PhilDAbb