A New Fan Experience at the Dome

By Jesse Cook

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Syracuse women’s lacrosse played a game in front of fans for the first time on Sunday, Mar. 14 against Notre Dame. For the first time, tickets were open to the entire student population, instead of solely season ticket holders.

Whether they were first-years, who had never attended a game in the Carrier Dome, or upperclassmen who had been counting down the days until they could return, S.U. students were anxious to get in the seats.

Sitting in the front row of section 118, junior Matthew Jensen, a dedicated member of Otto’s Army, said that being back felt unreal. “This is everything we could’ve dreamed of,” he said. “This is a dream come true. We’ve been waiting for this for over a calendar year at this point.”

With fans in the stands, the team saw a boosted level of team output.

Junior attack Megan Carney praised the work her teammates and she put forth in front of fans in the 15-12 victory. She said, “We’re coming out and we’re gonna come out strong. We just got a few in the beginning and just kept that energy going and that definitely helps us.”

Jensen said that the newly reinvigorated energy in the Dome foreshadows a hopeful future as far as the endpoint of the pandemic. He said, “Just the amount of stuff we had to get through to get to this point–I mean we’re a long ways away from the light at the end of the tunnel, I guess, but, just to be able to be back here, you know, it’s a big step in the right direction. We’re really excited to finish up this year in whatever way we can, and then, as we’re going forward to next year, we’re looking forward to seeing what else we can do.”

Men’s lacrosse will host Holy Cross this Saturday in front of fans at the Dome.