April 23, 2004

Box Score

SYRACUSE - The University of Denver women's lacrosse team was unable to overcome a 10 goal deficit in a 16-11 loss to the No. 13 Syracuse Orangewomen on Friday night in the Carrier Dome. The loss snaps the Pioneers two-game winning streak and drops them to 5-8 overall. The Orangewomen improve to 9-3.

The Orangewomen scored on their first two possessions but Denver responded as sophomore midfielder Steph Greenlees (Lake Forest, Ill.) beat the Syracuse defense down the field to make the score, 2-1, at the 23:34 mark of the first half. The two squads then traded goals with freshman midfielder Kate Broderick (Chantilly, Va.) scoring on a free-position attempt for the Pioneers with 20 minutes remaining in the half.

The Pioneers kept pace with the Orangewomen, as a free-position goal by junior defenseman Crystal Jack (Kingwood, Texas) pulled the Pioneers to within 5-3 with 11:27 left in the half. Syracuse scored twice more, but a goal by senior midfielder Patience Baldwin (Baltimore, Md.) at the 3:47 mark kept the margin at three, 7-4. The Orangewomen did get the last tally of the half to open their biggest lead of the first frame, 8-4.

Syracuse scored the first six goals of the second half to open an insurmountable margin (14-4). Alyssia Passavia (Stony Brook, N.Y.) stopped the bleeding with a free-position goal with 15:26 remaining. Freshman midfielder Jessica Rae Lodders (Castle Rock, Colo.) took a Greenlees pass and added another Denver goal, to cut the margin to eight (14-6) with 14:21 left in the contest.

Broderick and Baldwin notched the Pioneers third and fourth-consecutive goals, just 15 seconds apart to pull the Pioneers within 14-8 at the12:23 mark. Jack capped the Denver run using a brilliant move to beat the Orangewomen defense and slice into the lead a little more.

Syracuse got back on track and extended its lead to 15-9 on a goal by Tewaaraton Trophy finalist Leigh-Ann Zimmer with 7:53 remaining in the match. Greenlees assisted on junior attacker Tara Bourdelaise's (Gambrills, Md.) 12th goal of the season, cutting the margin back to five (15-10) at the 5:10 mark. The Pioneers got as close as four on Greenlees' second goal, but were unable to overcome the Orangewomen who added one final goal, making the final score 16-11.

Junior goalie Steph Schneider (Leesburg, Va.) made nine saves in the loss, while the Syracuse's Jennifer Kasel made 10. Syracuse outshot Denver, 36-31.

The Pioneers return to action when it takes on St. Bonaventure on Sun., April 25 at 10 a.m. MT in Liverpool, N.Y.