The Syracuse field hockey team walked off Coyne Field and headed to the locker room Monday after playing Pacific. Coach Kathleen Parker called sophomore Meg Ryan over before she could get away.

‘Hey Ryan,’ Parker said, hand outstretched, ‘way to knock it home.’

Ryan returned the low-five, having just scored the game-winner in overtime as SU notched its first win of the season, 2-1.

Syracuse was coming off a 2-0 loss to Richmond on Sunday. A late barrage of shots could not beat Spider goalie Michelle Swartz, who finished with seven saves.

‘I think I was too conservative in my game plan,’ Parker said. ‘The first 60 minutes of the game we played more defensively oriented.’

Monday’s first half was quite the opposite, as the Orange kept the ball on its offensive side of the field. SU had some careless open-field turnovers early, helping Pacific get the ball on its offensive end. But scoring opportunities were limited on both sides.

Ryan entered the game in the 21st minute and earned SU’s first penalty corner off a feed from Lindsay Peirson. But junior Joanne Lombard’s shot was stuffed by Tiger goalkeeper Kim Myers.

The Orange wasted no time dominating the action again in the second half. In the 31st minute, Ryan used her speed to receive a lead pass down the sideline from freshman Jessica Lerew. Ryan centered the ball to a charging Ashley Fry, who put it in the back of the net.

‘I saw Ash in the front of the cage,’ Ryan said. ‘I knew she had good stick work. She just beat the goalie one on one.’

The Tigers looked anything but beaten. Unexpectedly, Pacific’s Megan Haas took a short pass – normally teams send longer passes to the middle of the penalty circle – and sent a shot at Orange goalie Betsy Wagner. The senior – who had a career-high 13 saves against Richmond in a stellar performance – knocked it down, but right at the stick of Pacific’s Lindsey Rovai, who scored the equalizer.

‘It was disappointing because we knew it was coming,’ Wagner said. ‘It was definitely just a misdirection on my part.’

In overtime, Peirson sent a pass up the sideline to Meredith Gettel, who used some nifty stick work to beat two Pacific defenders. She found Ryan in front of the net, and the sophomore calmly beat Myers low to clinch the victory.

‘The final goal there was a beautiful setup by Meredith Gettel,’ Parker said. ‘She’s our best ball handler. The assist on her part was well-earned.’

The loss dropped the Tigers, who played four games in five days, to 3-3 on the year as they finally head back to the West Coast for games against California and Stanford.

‘I thought it would be a competitive game and it was,’ Parker said. ‘You would think you could be running them (Pacific) into the ground, but I knew they were a feisty team and they didn’t quit.’

Published on September 6, 2004 at 12:00 pm