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The Daily OrangeWLAX | SU proves resilient in overtime victory at No. 11 Notre Dame
By John Sutton
Posted: 3/19/08, 12:41 AM EST Section: Sports
Resiliency is a word often thrown around when describing championship-caliber teams in almost any sport. Up until Sunday this word could not be used to describe Syracuse in its five previous games this season.
That changed with a 16-13 overtime win over No. 11 Notre Dame in South Bend, Ind., on Sunday. In the game, Syracuse was able to overcome only its second deficit all season.
After junior attack Awehiyo Thomas tied the game at 13 with 6:39 remaining, the score remained tied through regulation. The Orange was able to come out quickly in overtime, scoring only 32 seconds into the extra period and never looking behind.
The comeback was only necessary after the Irish stormed out of the locker room in the second half, scoring the first four goals to take an 11-10 lead after being down 10-7 at the half. Facing the deficit and the strong momentum that Notre Dame had established, SU head coach Gary Gait saw something in his players he had not seen all season: a belief in themselves.
"They proved that they are willing to stick it out and never give up," Gait said. "Even when things aren't going their way, they still believed in themselves, and I think that is what they showed."
With three consecutive home games on the horizon for the Orange starting today with Towson (5-1) at 1 p.m. and culminating with No. 1 Northwestern (7-0) Monday night, Gait said the win on the road against Notre Dame is something that can catapult his team during this stretch.
One area the Orange (5-1) must be resilient in is on defense, in which Syracuse lost one of its leaders in senior midfielder Bridget Looney to injury against Virginia on March 1. Since then, the Orange has given up 31 goals in three games, compared to 21 goals allowed in the three games with Looney.
Gait knows the defense is still a work in progress without Looney as he searches for the right combination of players to perform at a high level on the defensive end.
"After losing Bridget Looney, we are still trying to find ourselves," Gait said. "That's an ongoing process. We are still juggling some people around trying to find the right lineup. We are looking for someone to take control out there and get everybody on the same page and communicating."
While the defense continues to look for answers, the most important thing for Gait right now is overcoming the challenges his team will face as the season progresses. Overcoming an obstacle with the win on Sunday, Gait sees his team improving to the high level it needs to be.
After failing to show the grit Gait was looking for in its previous road loss to No. 3 Virginia, the Orange were able to pull through over the weekend in a situation Gait said shows perseverance from his team.
"That was a great challenge for us," Gait said. "We were able to battle through adversity, we got behind, we came back, we never gave up. We hung in there and gave ourselves a chance in overtime. It was big for us to look back and know that we didn't give up, and we stuck it out and grinded out the victory."
jssutton@syr.edu
That changed with a 16-13 overtime win over No. 11 Notre Dame in South Bend, Ind., on Sunday. In the game, Syracuse was able to overcome only its second deficit all season.
After junior attack Awehiyo Thomas tied the game at 13 with 6:39 remaining, the score remained tied through regulation. The Orange was able to come out quickly in overtime, scoring only 32 seconds into the extra period and never looking behind.
The comeback was only necessary after the Irish stormed out of the locker room in the second half, scoring the first four goals to take an 11-10 lead after being down 10-7 at the half. Facing the deficit and the strong momentum that Notre Dame had established, SU head coach Gary Gait saw something in his players he had not seen all season: a belief in themselves.
"They proved that they are willing to stick it out and never give up," Gait said. "Even when things aren't going their way, they still believed in themselves, and I think that is what they showed."
With three consecutive home games on the horizon for the Orange starting today with Towson (5-1) at 1 p.m. and culminating with No. 1 Northwestern (7-0) Monday night, Gait said the win on the road against Notre Dame is something that can catapult his team during this stretch.
One area the Orange (5-1) must be resilient in is on defense, in which Syracuse lost one of its leaders in senior midfielder Bridget Looney to injury against Virginia on March 1. Since then, the Orange has given up 31 goals in three games, compared to 21 goals allowed in the three games with Looney.
Gait knows the defense is still a work in progress without Looney as he searches for the right combination of players to perform at a high level on the defensive end.
"After losing Bridget Looney, we are still trying to find ourselves," Gait said. "That's an ongoing process. We are still juggling some people around trying to find the right lineup. We are looking for someone to take control out there and get everybody on the same page and communicating."
While the defense continues to look for answers, the most important thing for Gait right now is overcoming the challenges his team will face as the season progresses. Overcoming an obstacle with the win on Sunday, Gait sees his team improving to the high level it needs to be.
After failing to show the grit Gait was looking for in its previous road loss to No. 3 Virginia, the Orange were able to pull through over the weekend in a situation Gait said shows perseverance from his team.
"That was a great challenge for us," Gait said. "We were able to battle through adversity, we got behind, we came back, we never gave up. We hung in there and gave ourselves a chance in overtime. It was big for us to look back and know that we didn't give up, and we stuck it out and grinded out the victory."
jssutton@syr.edu
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