Syracuse’s first test as the new No. 1 team in the country came on the road at No. 11 Louisville (7-5, 0-5 Atlantic Coast). And the Orange (12-0, 4-0) passed with a 2-1 victory on Friday night in a nationally televised game on ESPN3.

Just 4:08 into the contest, Alma Fenne found the back of the net from the top of the circle after receiving a feed from Serra Degnan on the right.

The two teams battled the final 31 minutes of the half, with goalie Jess Jecko making three sprawling saves to preserve the Orange lead going into halftime. Jecko again saved Syracuse with about 20 minutes to go when she made a stick save to keep the Cardinals off the board.

About six minutes later, Jecko couldn’t stop the Cardinal’s second consecutive penalty corner. Louisville played the ball in and Megan Anstotz made the final pass to Elisa Garcia who, on her game-high third shot, put the ball past Jecko to knot the game at 1-1.

The Cardinals generated more corners than the Orange Friday, holding a five to two advantage. The Orange led in the shots category, nine to seven, and the teams tallied the same number of shots on goal with five.

At 64:19, Syracuse earned a penalty stroke, which allowed the Orange to send a player to shoot a ball from seven yards away with just the goalie to beat. Roos Weers, the Orange’s leader in points, was sent to shoot and didn’t waste the chance.

Weers’ 11th goal of the season gave Syracuse the 2-1 advantage and the lead for good.

Jecko made four saves, her highest total in five games.

The Orange continues its road trip at Indiana on Sunday at noon.

Published on October 9, 2015 at 8:21 pm

Contact Sam: sjfortie@syr.edu | @Sam4TR