Gaddy Fortune caught a pass 20 yards away from the cage with less than a minute left in the first half. Syracuse had not scored a goal in almost eight minutes, long enough for Loyola to turn a 4-3 deficit into a 5-4 lead. Fortune stood facing a Greyhound defender, the ball quietly in her stick, looking downfield for an opening.

Suddenly, like a blur, Fortune was gone.

The senior attacker blew past the first defender, using her size and speed to create space in the crease near the net. A quick shot past Loyola’s goalie tied the game at five.

Playing for the first time since April 13, Fortune, off the bench, started a stretch of eight consecutive goals in No. 10 Syracuse’s 21-6 victory over Loyola Saturday. The late outburst carried into the second half when the Orange outscored the Greyhounds, 14-1.

‘It was such a great spark,’ Syracuse head coach Lisa Miller said. ‘She gave us the momentum back, and that was so important.’

Off the ensuing draw, Fortune again found open space near the net. Two Loyola defenders rushed Fortune, who dropped a pass off to teammate Katie Rowan for an easy score.

Two points for Fortune in 14 seconds – her first points since March 24. Ashley Pike added another goal moments before halftime to give Syracuse a 7-5 lead. The Orange scored three goals in the final minute of the first half and never looked back.

But this year has been a struggle for Fortune. After starting every game in 2006, she has played in only nine this season, starting two. The player with three career five-goal games has scored just four altogether in 2007.

Fortune was unavailable for comment after the game Saturday.

Earlier in the season, Miller criticized Fortune for committing too many turnovers in practice. Later, Miller said Fortune’s decrease in scoring was a product of a new role that had her playing more like a defensive midfielder.

But for 14 seconds Saturday, she looked like the Fortune who led the Orange with 47 goals and 50 points a season ago. Though she did not play again until the game was out of reach late in the second half, Fortune’s points jumpstarted a struggling Syracuse offense.

‘It was the momentum builder that we really needed at the end of the half,’ Rowan said. ‘Gaddy came in there and scored a quick two at the right time. It’s so much easier going into halftime with the lead.’

Trailing at the end of the first half would have been an unusual situation for a Syracuse team accustomed to positive locker room speeches and double-digit halftime leads. During its current four-game winning streak, the Orange has averaged more than 11 first-half goals.

Syracuse has led at halftime in all but three games this season, winning just one. The Orange last trailed at the half on March 30, a 10-7 loss to No. 1 Northwestern.

On Saturday, however, Syracuse was seconds away from heading into intermission behind. Throughout the first half, the Orange’s powerful offense could not find any openings in Loyola’s defense, relying mainly on transition opportunities – Fortune’s strength.

The late run at the end of the first half ignited Syracuse’s entire offensive unit. Five Orange players combined for a season-high 14 goals in the game’s final 30 minutes. Before Saturday, Syracuse had not scored more than 10 goals in the second half of any game.

‘We weren’t waiting for the ball to come to us in the second half,’ said Rowan, who scored four goals Saturday to increase her season total to 44. ‘We started going to the groundballs and draw controls. We started attacking the defense.’

It was Fortune’s effort that sparked the second-half domination. Though she is not a primary scorer this season, Syracuse benefits from four other players with at least 35 goals. Already, the Orange has scored a program-record 230 goals.

With the Big East tournament beginning Friday, Syracuse will look for more production off the bench from Fortune. On Saturday, she showed she still has something left to contribute despite a decreased role.

‘She’s pretty good at that,’ Miller said of Fortune’s spark. ‘It’s something we’ve praised her for and keep looking for. This is what we’ve grown to expect from her.’

Published on April 22, 2007 at 12:00 pm