In Syracuse’s season-opener, the Orange defeated Jacksonville 21-8 Sunday in Jacksonville, Fla. behind five goals and six points from freshman Kayla Treanor. She tied the SU record for most goals in a freshman debut, set last year by sophomore Kailah Kempney.

Junior Alyssa Murray scored three goals and dished out two assists for a five-point performance. Kempney, senior Becca Block, junior Katie Webster and sophomore Devon Collins scored two goals each.

The Dolphins struck first Sunday with a goal by Brit Orashen two minutes into the game. But Syracuse responded with eight unanswered goals in the next 10 minutes to take control. Jacksonville battled back to make it a 10-5 game, but Treanor scored with four seconds left in the first half to take back momentum for SU.

After the Orange took a 13-6 lead, JU fought back to cut the deficit to five again 10 minutes into the second half. But Syracuse dominated the final 20 minutes of the game with another 8-0 run – including a three-goal, 17-second stretch – to put the game away.

SU junior Alyssa Costantino made four saves in the first half and sophomore Kelsey Richardson recorded four stops in the second half. Syracuse executed in the draw circle, winning 21-of-30 draw controls.

Ranked No. 1 in the preseason by Inside Lacrosse, the Orange won its sixth consecutive season-opener. SU returns to Florida on Jan. 26 to play the U.S. National Team at the Champion Challenge. The Orange’s first home game will be Feb. 17 when it hosts Maryland, a Final Four team a year ago.

Ice Hockey

Syracuse missed out on a chance to seize control of the College Hockey America conference, dropping to a pair of losses at No. 7 Mercyhurst at the Mercyhurst Ice Center in Erie, Pa. Friday and Saturday.

The Orange (10-10-1, 4-3-1 CHA) was shut out for the first time since January 2, 2012 in the first game Friday before falling 4-1 Saturday.

On Friday afternoon SU was saddled by its failure to punish Mercyhurst on the power play. The Orange went 0-for-5 and crucially forgave MU at the 13:18 mark in the third period, down 1-0 with a power play opportunity.

The Orange stayed even with the hosts through two periods until Christie Cicero put the Lakers ahead for good 3:08 into the third period. SU went on to outshoot Mercyhurst 9-5 in the final period but never got the equalizer, even skating six-on-five nearly all of the last minute of play.

SU goalkeeper Kallie Billadeau equaled MU’s Amanda Makela with 24 saves.

Saturday afternoon belonged to Mercyhurst. The Lakers outshot the Orange 12-6 in the opening frame with Emily Janiga giving the hosts the edge 12:17 into the game on a power play for a hooking call on SU captain Jacquie Greco at 11:57.

Again, the Orange failed to punish its hosts enough on the power play. Mercyhurst committed 12 penalties to SU’s six. By the time the Orange finally capitalized on Greco’s five-on-three tally 17:19 into the second period, Janiga had already scored twice more.

SU went into the third period trailing 3-1but was outshot 14-8 in the final frame and conceded a fourth goal just 2:29 in.

Billadeau finished with 34 saves. The losses drop SU to fourth in the CHA while Mercyhurst’s four points from the weekend boosted the Lakers to 16 points in the conference – four ahead of Robert Morris and seven clear of the Orange.

Syracuse visits No. 4 Cornell Tuesday at 7 p.m.

Track and field

Last Friday the Syracuse track and field team traveled to the Armory in New York City to compete in the Gotham Cup. The event that annually kicks of the spring season hosted 45 college teams located throughout the Northeast and East Coast regions.

After the men finished 56th in last year’s NCAA Championship, Syracuse looked to use the Gotham Cup as a starting point for 2013. Upperclassmen runners led the way as five athletes finished in the top five of five different events.

Senior Lauren Penney was at the forefront of the Orange’s success, edging out second-place finisher Nicole Traynor from the NY-NJ Track Club (4:47.57) with a time of 4:46.03 in the women’s mile.

Freshman Shania Harrison and junior Jaquan Holland provided a pair of second-place finishes in

their respective 60-meter dashes. In the women’s race Harrison (7.42) finished behind former

Syracuse runner Flings Owusu-Agyapong (7.32). In the men’s race Holland (6.87) finished just .08 seconds behind Jeremy Bascom from the Central Park Track Club (6.75).

In the men’s mile, senior Tito Medrano finished in second place with a time of 4:15.59.

Saint Joseph’s runner Paul Szulewski (4:14.36) took home first place.

Another bright spot for the Orange was senior Will Watson, who finished in fifth place in the men’s long jump. The best jump of the day for Watson came at 6.87 meters.

Senior Amadou Gueye finished fifth in the men’s 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.01. Three

spots behind Gueye was Syracuse sprinter Donald Pollitt (8.05).

This Saturday, Syracuse will travel to Ithaca, N.Y. to compete in the Upstate Challenge. Last year, both the men’s and women’s teams finished third behind Cornell and Buffalo.

Tennis

Syracuse (0-2, 0-1) came up short in its first spring match of 2013.

The No. 72 Orange lost 6-1 to No. 43 South Florida Saturday in Tampa, Fla. at the USF Varsity Tennis Courts.

No. 2 singles junior Maddie Kobelt gave SU its only victory when she defeated No. 75 Loreto Alonso Martinez 6-1, 6-2. The win was Kobelt’s first against a ranked opponent in her SU career.

Sophomore Jimena Wu came up short in her No. 4 singles match against Paula Montoya, 6-1, 5-7, 11-4.

Looking to earn her first collegiate victory, freshman Sophia Dzulynsky narrowly lost to Alessandra Bonte, 6-7, 6-4, 15-13 in No. 6 singles.

The Orange returns to action during the weekend when SU faces Georgia Tech on Jan. 17 and Georgia State on Jan. 19, both in Atlanta.

Published on January 14, 2013 at 12:29 am