With a win over Princeton last weekend, Providence provided the Syracuse field hockey team with a unique opportunity. A domino effect has surfaced. The Friars have supplied the Orange with a chance to remove the sole chip on its shoulder much earlier in the season than originally anticipated.

A victory this weekend will enable No. 6 SU (7-1) to clear its mind. To rid itself somewhat of the memories of a crushing overtime loss to Princeton at J.S. Coyne Field earlier this season. All thanks to the Providence. Princeton defeated the Orange, 3-2, in overtime on Sept. 6, and Providence (3-4) beat Princeton, 2-1.

‘(We are hoping to) avenge the only blemish on our record so far,’ junior back Maggie Befort said. ‘We are really excited, it’s a double challenge for us.’

Syracuse is set to host No. 19 Providence Saturday at noon and Columbia Sunday at 1 p.m.

First-year player Ashleigh McGowan, who got her first start of the year in the team’s 3-2 win against Louisville last Friday, is looking forward to the opportunity to one-up the Tigers as well. The graduate student expects another tough physical conference game.

‘I think we see it more as a challenge,’ McGowan said. ‘In the harder games we really step up for them, and they bring out our best, and we play our best. It’s definitely not a bad thing they beat Princeton. We are looking forward to playing them.’

Heading into Saturday, SU head coach Ange Bradley is expecting a dose of Syracuse’s own medicine against the Friars. Providence plays a fast up-tempo brand of field hockey much like SU, and Bradley knows the entire team must be keyed in to stop it.

For if certain aspects aren’t taken care of, that sweet taste of redemption won’t come to fruition.

‘They have a lot of speed, and they have a really good counter attack and a great player in Nellie Poulin,’ Bradley said. ‘She is their leading scorer. We need to work on our possession skills and being able to take care of the ball. I think it’ll be a foot race. It’s going to be a good game.’

Hiding behind the faade of a redemption game for the Orange is the fact that this is another tough, physical Big East matchup. The conference has four teams in the Top 20 and regularly produces national contenders.

The theme of the game and the quality of the conference aren’t scaring away Bradley and the rest of the Orange, though, as the squad has set its sights on repeating as Big East regular season champs. Saturday’s game is just another step along the way.

‘The Big East is physical. It’s definitely physical,’ Bradley said. ‘But conference play is important. This is our season, there are five games left really in Big East play. We need to win those games and put ourselves in position to be regular season champs. The automatic bid is what we are going for.’

So with another weekend comes another set of tests. Roadblocks on SU’s path back to everything they achieved last year – No. 1 ranking, regular season champions, conference tournament champions, final four.

SU was reminded of its postseason run last weekend on a bus ride to the stadium in Louisville, where its season ended last year. The players saw faded paint, markings from last year’s final four that had seemingly lasted just long enough for the players to see them.

It served as motivation to refocus and sew up some loose ends from earlier in the season and start looking toward the future.

‘There were still markings of the final four on the turf,’ Bradley said. ‘The feeling was completely happy though. It’s a new year, with new work, but it definitely brought back memories of achieving such an amazing mark. Two minutes from playing for a national championship.’

aolivero@syr.edu

Published on September 23, 2009 at 12:00 pm