Maggie Befort and her senior teammates were just freshmen the last time Syracuse faced Penn State. Since that 3-1 loss in University Park, Pa., SU’s field hockey program has seen tremendous growth, reaching the field hockey Final Four once since then.

Three years later, SU’s journey back to the Final Four begins against the Nittany Lions on that same field where it was defeated.

Syracuse will travel back to University Park as the No. 4 seed in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at the Penn State Field Hockey Complex on Saturday at 11:30 a.m. The announcement came during a webcast on NCAA.com Tuesday when the 16-team field for the tournament was announced.

For Befort and her senior teammates, the road to that elusive national championship begins now.

‘It’s something that’s always in the back of your mind when you’re in January, when you’re in morning workouts and what not,’ she said. ‘It’s here. For the rest of the seniors and myself, it’s our last one and our last go around.’

Should the Orange win on Saturday, it would play the winner of Ohio State vs. Albany Sunday.

The Orange automatically qualified for the tournament after winning the Big East tournament this past weekend. But the team still gathered in a filming room on the second floor of the Carmelo K. Anthony Basketball Center to learn of its opponent for this weekend.

Junior forward Martina Loncarica said the No. 4 seed is something SU has been expecting all season long.

‘This was our expectation,’ Loncarica said. ‘We knew we had to be here, so we worked hard for it. Now what we have to do is keep working hard and get the big one.’

The birth in this year’s tournament marks the first time the school has made three consecutive appearances in the NCAA Tournament. All three of the trips come under the leadership of head coach Ange Bradley, who has now doubled the number of times SU has made it to the NCAA Tournament since she took over in 2007. Before Bradley’s hire, SU had only made it to the tournament three times — in 1993, 1995 and 2001.

After a long season, Bradley took some time to reflect on the accomplishment and couldn’t help but be impressed by the growth the program has made.

‘That’s a huge accomplishment for Syracuse field hockey,’ Bradley said. ‘It’s the second time in our history to be a top four seed.’

Normally three of the top four seeded teams get to host their first two games in the tournament. In 2008, SU was the No. 3 seed and hosted the first leg of the postseason play at J.S. Coyne Field. This year the Orange gets no such luxury, but Bradley quickly turned down the thought of that affecting her squad.

‘You have to win two games whether you’re on the road or you’re at home,’ Bradley said.’

Bradley said the No. 4 seed is exactly what she expected, but that didn’t stop the coach from being a little nervous. With perhaps the greatest senior class in school history and a team that is on the roll, Bradley realized how important her team’s seeding would be.

Before the announcement show, the coach calmly sat on one of the chairs in the filming room, eating her dinner. But as soon as the webcast lit up the projection screen, Bradley leapt out of her chair, opting for a spot on the stairs.

With her hands on her forehead, Bradley proposed her team’s possible seeding out loud, wondering where her team might end up. Penn State and Syracuse came across the board, and just like that, it was back to business for Bradley.

‘I was anxious, I’m excited,’ Bradley said. ‘I can’t wait to see where we are going and what we are doing.

‘It’s nice now knowing what video I’ve got to go watch and what we have to prepare for. I’m going to meet in a few minutes with my coaches and meet again tomorrow morning and get ready for practice.’

rwmarfur@syr.edu

Published on November 9, 2010 at 12:00 pm