Syracuse head coach Ange Bradley had trouble sleeping Saturday night following SU’s first loss of the season to No. 9 Connecticut. Fortunately, she didn’t have much time to dwell on it.

‘I was still too mad last night honestly to be able to look at film,’ Bradley said. ‘And I was still mad this morning. I got up early and looked at some Holy Cross tapes to get ready for today, but there were certain things I kept seeing in my head at 4 o’clock this morning that I knew had to be fixed.’

Bradley took that excess anger and imposed it into her team Sunday in a pregame message the Orange would not forget heading into a matchup against Holy Cross at J.S. Coyne stadium.

‘She told us to release hell’s fury,’ sophomore back Maggie Befort said.

The message resounded well with the No. 1 Orange (14-1) Sunday, as it dominated every aspect of their matchup against the Crusaders (4-10) throughout a 7-0 blowout victory in front of 231 fans.

‘Today was a big day for us to earn our respect back amongst ourselves,’ Befort said. ‘(Saturday) was a very tough loss, a very frustrating loss, so today we just needed to go out, attack, score lots of goals, play a fun passing game, and play SU hockey.’

It didn’t take long for the No.1 Orange to release a barrage of goals on the Holy Cross defense.

Only 15 minutes into the game, the Orange netted three consecutive scores in the span of 110 seconds – a ruthless attack that gave the team a 3-0 advantage, and more importantly revamped its confidence following a heartbreaking loss the day before.

‘Once we start, we just keep going,’ freshman forward Nicole Nelson said. ‘Once we get that first one we never want to stop.’

Senior midfielder Shannon Taylor – who notched four of the team’s seven goals tying the school record for goals in a game – especially appreciated the victory, coming from a physically and emotionally taxing game Saturday.

In the second half against UConn, Taylor emerged from a pack of Huskies rolling on the ground. The bloodied Taylor had been shoved and beaten up all game, and had just caught an elbow and stick to the nose, forcing her to leave the game.

The injury paralleled what was a frustrating game for Taylor, a game she was determined to override Sunday.

‘It’s nice to come off yesterday and get the energy back going,’ Taylor said. ‘This team has a lot of character, and that showed today coming out and giving all we had.’

Although Taylor was double- and triple-teamed by the Crusaders, just like she was Saturday against UConn, it didn’t seem to matter. Shortly after the three-goal surge, Taylor took the ball down the field, shielding off a Holy Cross defender, then dishing a pass off to freshman midfielder Martina Loncarica.

Taylor forced herself into the circle, creating enough space for her to receive a pass, then buried a shot right before halftime.

‘(Holy Cross) defenders were still around me today, but its just about clearing space and whether or not I can get the ball in the circle,’ Taylor said.

The fourth goal was all the momentum the team would need, as Syracuse went on to outshoot the Crusaders 29-3, while only allowing one shot on goal.

Syracuse emerged from halftime, keeping its foot on the accelerator.

In her first game action of the year, sophomore forward Kahli Vojkovic took the ball around the outside of the circle before taking two steps in and crushing a slap shot on goal. The score was Vojkovic’s first career goal.

‘Kahli’s been pushing hard in practice and I wanted to be able to utilize this game to see how she would play, and she stepped up,’ said Bradley, who admitted to using an increased number of substitutions today in order to assess who can play bigger roles heading into the second half of the season.

Sunday’s victory may have been a turning point for the Orange. Bradley said she was pleased with the way her players bounced back from defeat, although some of her players admit, the win was largely out of vengeance – a strong showing to erase a bitter loss.

‘We came out well because we all were so frustrated,’ Nelson said. We just wanted to take it out on this team.’

ctorr@syr.edu

Published on October 19, 2008 at 12:00 pm