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The Daily OrangeWLAX | Offensive outburst leads Syracuse women's lacrosse to season-opening win
By Didier Morais
Posted: 2/16/09, 1:16 AM EST Section: Sports
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Having three of the Big East's top five leaders in overall points - senior attack Katie Rowan, junior attack Halley Quillinan and junior midfielder Christina Dove - returning this season, the Syracuse women's lacrosse head coach didn't expect any drop off in offensive production from his trio.
The Dolphins immediately learned that Gait's hunch would prove to be correct. Four minutes and 27 seconds into the game, Rowan, Quillinan and Dove had each fired in a goal to propel the Orange to an early three-goal lead.
Syracuse would continue its rapid barrage of goals, crushing the Dolphins, 21-4, Sunday at the Carrier Dome in front of 1,011.
"It was kind of expected that we would put the ball in the net," Gait said. "We're returning a lot of weapons from last year. It was just nice to see (the goals) spread out and spread around and lots of different scorers. It wasn't just one or two players doing it all, and we'll look to continue that."
With the Orange's top-three returning scorers threatening Dolphins' goalkeeper Kelly Fucillo with shots, Le Moyne's defense quickly lost all of its confidence. Syracuse outplayed its neighboring rival, scoring five goals off its first 11 shots on goal.
Even when the Dolphins cracked down on the Orange's trio, it opened up opportunities for other players to inflict heavy pressure. Senior attacks Megan Mosenson and Awehiyo Thomas were benefactors of Le Moyne's schematic switch and combined to tally five goals and three assists.
"That's definitely one of our goals this year," Quillinan said of her team's ability to disperse the scoring. "We have so many offensive threats, starting and coming in off the bench, that a defense can't just key in on a certain player or two. We're really excited about all the girls stepping up this year."
Despite the constant slides in coverage, Dove managed to impose her will on the opposing defense and pick up where she left off in 2008. In the first half, the junior midfielder netted two goals and had three assists - two of those to Quillinan. Dove would tack on another goal to finish with a game-high six points.
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