It’s a classic sibling relationship. The Connecticut and Syracuse women’s lacrosse programs were born a year apart. They compete annually in the Big East, one teaching the other, one improving through experience.

The difference is the younger sibling, SU, has been teaching UConn all the lessons.

Saturday was no different, as the No. 9 Orangewomen beat the Huskies, 16-13, at the Carrier Dome. SU has dominated UConn, improving to 7-0 against the Huskies throughout its history. Syracuse head coach Lisa Miller and UConn head coach Bonnie Rosen have been at the helm of their respective teams all seven years.

‘It’s probably the most complete game we’ve seen against Syracuse,’ Rosen said. ‘We’ve continued to get much better, and I think for the first time, we stepped into the Dome and weren’t intimidated. That was the biggest reason why we had a game today.’

The Huskies were in it despite three straight goals by SU (4-2, 1-1 Big East) to close out the first half with an 8-5-lead. Rosen kept UConn on the field at halftime to discuss a new game plan.

‘We don’t have time for the distractions of going in and out (of the locker room),’ Rosen said. ‘We focused on trying to deny cutters defensively and create a little movement on offense and not force things.’

SU came out quickly in the second half with three more goals. Senior Leigh-Ann Zimmer made it a six-goal game with 14:45 remaining on the prettiest play of the afternoon. As Husky defenders hustled back in transition, Zimmer made a quick fake to the right, turning her defender inside-out. She then outran her down the left side of the field and beat UConn goalie Jennifer Wong.

Like every game this season, the Orangewomen allowed UConn to stay close. UConn (3-4, 0-1) scored three unanswered goals in the second half, and with less than 10 minutes remaining, the Huskies only trailed by three.

‘Sometimes we turn it into a competition when we shouldn’t necessarily turn it into a competition,’ Miller said. ‘We can put points on the board, but we like to keep fans in the seats.’

UConn’s late surge wasn’t enough. Senior Danielle Lillis kept the three-goal gap, scoring two of her four goals in the last four minutes. Lillis, who is third on SU in scoring, had a season-high five points.

‘We did the same thing as we did last year,’ Lillis said. ‘If we just played the whole game like we did late in the second half, we’d have been fine.’

Last year, SU beat UConn in Storrs, 9-5. After trailing in the first half, Syracuse won because of a 6-1 run in the second half. Zimmer was the key to that win, scoring four second-half goals.

‘UConn is getting better and better,’ Miller said. ‘When you play us, you make a choice. Last year they didn’t run with us. This year they decided to run.’

Although Miller was happy with SU’s performance, she believes there is always room for improvement.

‘We can get better,’ Miller said. ‘Every game, we’re playing for longer periods of time. We’re a spurty team, a momentum team. That’s not going to change. But we answered when we had to.’

As for the Huskies, they’ll have to wait until next year to get another crack at their rivaled sibling. Only then they won’t have to worry about the most lethal scorer in the Big East.

‘We’ll look forward to the game again,’ Rosen said. ‘Zimmer’s a wonderful player, but it’s not just her.’

Published on March 27, 2004 at 12:00 pm