HAMILTON – Syracuse field hockey head coach Kathleen Parker remembers the days when she struggled to even get Colgate on the Orangewomen’s regular season schedule. In the late 1970s and early ’80s, the Raiders were a national powerhouse, while Syracuse struggled to establish itself.

As last night’s 2-1 SU victory proved, the times certainly have changed.

Now the Raiders look up to the Orangewomen and the program that Parker has built since she arrived at SU in 1978. Last season’s 1-0 loss to Colgate at Coyne Field gave the momentum temporarily back to Colgate.

Last night, the Orangewomen re-established their recent dominance in the local rivalry, easily defeating the Raiders, 5-1. Before last season, Colgate hadn’t defeated SU since a 3-2 victory in 1996.

‘We play each other in the spring also,’ Colgate head coach Cathy Foto said, ‘so we see each other a lot, a lot more than average teams see each other.’

Besides both hailing from Central New York, both head coaches are Ithaca graduates. Parker graduated in 1971 and Foto in 1983. Foto has been at Colgate for 15 years, and the two coaches have met each year since. Syracuse leads the all-time series, going 15-6 against the Raiders.

Although both teams recognize that a local rivalry exists, it may be more meaningful to the Raiders (5-9, 2-3 Patriot League). Each year, the Orangewomen (6-9, 1-3 Big East) are one of the top teams on Colgate’s schedule. Last year’s win was a big lift for the Raiders, giving them momentum to close the season and begin this year.

‘It’s always been great to get a chance to play a team from the Big East,’ Foto said. ‘Especially when you look at the tradition at SU and the success that Kathleen’s had. You look at a team like that and want to reach its level.

‘Winning last year was huge. To do that with a young team, it brought us to be able to focus going into the off-season, and we knew what we were capable of.’

Parkers said that last season’s loss woke SU up and made the Orangewomen realize that they had to stay focused against the Raiders.

‘It’s nice that we don’t have to stay in a hotel room,’ sophomore back Joanne Lombard said. ‘But honestly, each game is just as important as the next. It doesn’t matter if we’re playing the best team in the country or a Division III team.’

Parker believes that the rivalry extends beyond just Syracuse and Colgate, and also includes Cornell. The three schools are the top three Division I programs in Central New York, and play each other annually in most sports.

The Orangewomen have four New York teams on their schedule, and have now defeated the first three – Albany, Columbia and Colgate. SU plays Cornell at home on Oct. 29 at 7 p.m. A win over the Big Red would give Syracuse a sweep of the New York schools on its schedule and give the Orangewomen the unofficial title of New York state champion.

‘You want to take and pride and you want to be the best team,’ Parker said. ‘If you can’t be the best team in the country and you can’t be the best team in the Big East, then I’ll take being the best team in New York.’

Published on October 22, 2003 at 12:00 pm