No. 5 Syracuse will play No. 16 Massachusetts in the first round of the NCAA tournament on Saturday in University Park, Pa.

The Orange (17-2) hoped to earn one of the top four seeds — which would have made J.S. Coyne Stadium a host site — but instead will play at a neutral site. The Minutewomen (15-8) beat Rider in overtime on Tuesday in an NCAA play-in game. On Oct. 11, Massachusetts beat Syracuse 2-1 in Amherst and ended the Orange’s 12-game winning streak to start the season.

“I’m excited,” SU head coach Ange Bradley said. “It’s an opportunity to prove what we’ve learned from that game and go back out and have an opportunity to win.”

Syracuse is also looking to redeem itself after losing to Connecticut 4-3 in the Big East tournament championship on Sunday. The Orange blew a two-goal lead to the Huskies after beating them on Oct. 27 for the conference regular-season title.

Syracuse has beaten three of the top four seeds already this season, including top-seeded North Carolina, No. 2-seed Princeton and No. 3-seed Connecticut.

The Orange could face No. 4 Penn State if both teams win their first-round matchups. The Nittany Lions play Albany.

Senior back Iona Holloway said the team can’t look past UMass.

“Probably everyone’s looking at the bracket and saying it will be Syracuse-Penn State,” Holloway said. “But you have to focus on the game that we’ve been given so far, and that’s UMass. So that’s all we’ll be looking at until we beat them.”

After the Orange failed to achieve one of its goals this year — winning the Big East tournament — the team’s journey to reach the national championship starts Saturday in University Park against a team it’s already lost to.

“I think it’s really great for our team,” Holloway said. “It’s definitely a bit of redemption, and we’re so excited to be going and playing them because we know we can beat them.”

Published on November 7, 2012 at 1:41 am

Contact Phil: pmdabbra@syr.edu | @PhilDAbb