Women’s Lacrosse Sweeps Doubleheader Against Canisius and Binghamton

By Ally Heath

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The No. 5 Syracuse Women’s Lacrosse Team showed little mercy on Saturday in its doubleheader in the Carrier Dome, defeating Canisius 18-6 in the morning and Binghamton 16-5 at night to advance to 3-0 on the season.

Both efforts were aided by a relentless offensive attack from the Orange: 12 players scored at least one goal in the first game and 11 scored in the second. Of those players, half from the first game and seven of the 11 in the second came off the bench.

“This is a great opportunity here when you’re up seven, eight, nine goals you’re going to let your other players play and get some game experience,” said head coach Gary Gait. “That’s kinda why we do these doubleheaders is to get everybody in and let everybody play.”

Syracuse maintained possession for much of both games, in part thanks to its play in transition and on the draw. Gait’s squad used the quick turnaround between games to continue making adjustments to its play.

“It’s a good opportunity to play two different teams, two different styles, and get some more lacrosse under our belt,” said freshman draw specialist Morgan Widner.

Widner helped the Orange win the battle for possession, collecting 25 draw controls on the day, leading the team’s effort on the circle. The Orange won 68.8 percent of the draws over the two-game stretch, out-hustling both Canisius and Binghamton, even when both teams went on scoring runs late in their respective contests.

“We outworked them,” said Gait. “The pressure we were able to put on them on the ride led to some goals on transition. The defense cleaned up a lot of things [from last week].”

Widner admitted that the team was tired and made some mistakes towards the end of the second game that it may not have made at the start of the first, but the team was happy to be given the opportunity to test its endurance in a long day of play.

Syracuse will get some much needed rest and return to action next Saturday in the Carrier Dome when it faces Massachusetts (0-2) at 4 p.m.