Syracuse will play winner of Kent State and UMass to start NCAA tournament
Logan Reidsma | Photo Editor
Syracuse (17-1, 6-1 Atlantic Coast) will be the No. 1 overall seed in the 2015 NCAA tournament, the NCAA said on its Selection Show Sunday evening.
The Orange will play the winner of Kent State (11-8, 5-1 Mid-American) and Massachusetts (11-8, 5-3) on Saturday, Nov. 14 at 11:30 a.m. The games will be played at J.S. Coyne Stadium on SU’s South Campus, where the Orange has won 12 consecutive home games and is 72-4 since 2008.
Syracuse last played Kent State in 2014 in Kent, Ohio, when the Orange won 6-1. SU also beat UMass 4-0 at J.S. Coyne Stadium on Sept. 6. Since that game in early September, Syracuse became the 10th team in school history — the first women’s squad — to finish a perfect regular season, going 16-0.
The other two teams coming to Syracuse, New York to play in the first round will be Maryland and Princeton. Should Syracuse win its first round contest, it would play the winner of that game. Syracuse last played Maryland in College Park, Maryland, in 2013 when the Terrapins were the No. 1 team in the nation. The Orange fell 2-1 in overtime in that game. SU has beaten Princeton in each of the last five seasons.
Connecticut, the team which beat Syracuse 1-0 in the 2014 National Championship, was seeded fourth in the NCAA tournament. As the Huskies are on the same side of the bracket as Syracuse, the only possible meeting would be in the NCAA Semifinals.
The Orange, seeded No. 1 in the ACC tournament, suffered its first loss of the season earlier in the day Sunday when it fell 2-1 in overtime to No. 3 North Carolina in the ACC title game, held in Charlottesville, Virginia. It was in a darkened bus on the ride back to Syracuse when the team heard and a cheer went up.
North Carolina received the second-overall seed and Virginia, the third. Every team in the ACC made the NCAA tournament.
Published on November 8, 2015 at 10:51 pm
Contact Sam: sjfortie@syr.edu | @Sam4TR