The Syracuse women’s lacrosse team went full circle Saturday. The Orangewomen opened against Pennsylvania allowing a goal to Quaker Katie Spofford. Less than two hours later, Spofford scored again to finish the day.

Somewhere in between, SU won its first 30-minute scrimmage, 6-5, and lost its second, 6-2, to Penn in the Carrier Dome. The scrimmages don’t count on the Orangewomen’s record, but they served as good preparation for the upcoming season.

‘We know what we need to work on,’ head coach Lisa Miller said. ‘Now I think they also know they need to stay together if the defense is getting pulled apart.’

Freshman Bethel Steele made her case to be the starting goalie when the season begins. She played the first half and made five saves in her first collegiate action. Steele allowed five goals, though four of them came on free-possession shots.

‘She did fine,’ Miller said. ‘(Free shots are) something we haven’t done a lot of in practice with the goalies, so that’s my fault. I think just in terms of open-field play, the defense did a pretty good job of limiting shots.’

Sophomore Jennifer Kasel played goal in the second scrimmage, allowing six goals on 11 shots including two free-possession goals. Six of Pennsylvania’s 11 goals on the day came from free-possession shots.

Less than two weeks away from the start of the season, Miller is still non-committal in regards to a starting goalkeeper.

‘I think they both have their strengths right now,’ Miller said. ‘(Free shots are) something we’ve got to straighten out but again I think that’s my responsibility. I haven’t been spending enough time with them. I think they should get rid of that dumb rule.’

Preseason All-Big East midfielder Monica Joines picked up where she left off last season, tallying four goals and one assist in the first scrimmage.

‘My first half was better than my second,’ Joines said. ‘I was working with some of the girls that I’m more used to in the first half and our transition was a lot better so they got me open more often.’

Preseason Big East Offensive Player of the Year Leigh-Ann Zimmer scored a goal in the first scrimmage but did not play in the second. After leading last year’s team with 54 points, she remains focused on this season despite high expectations.

‘I don’t really follow the press and stuff like that,’ Zimmer said. ‘I know what I need to do out there on the field.’

The Orangewomen faltered in the second half as many of the upperclassmen stood on the sidelines. Six of the team’s nine freshmen and five of the team’s eight sophomores played in the second half.

‘The bulk of the team is freshmen and sophomores so they’ve got to get the playing time,’ Miller said. ‘We’re going to live with some errors early in the beginning of our season. The pressure’s on for the coaches and the upperclassmen to really keep things structured.’

The team’s first regular season game is Feb. 28 at No. 2 Virginia. The Orangewomen have had success against the Cavaliers in the past two years. They won, 12-11, with five seconds left in the first overtime half last year at the Carrier Dome, and 12-10 in 2002 at Virginia. SU is ranked No. 13 in this year’s preseason poll.

‘We surprised them the first year and they thought it was a fluke and we beat them last year,’ Miller said. ‘They’re going to take the game very seriously and so are we.’

Published on February 15, 2004 at 12:00 pm