Don’t call it an upset. Even though the Virginia women’s lacrosse team has made three of the last seven NCAA women’s lacrosse championships and was ranked 10 spots ahead of Syracuse, no one should be surprised by the Orangewomen’s one-goal victory over the Cavaliers on Saturday in Charlottesville, Va.

The No. 13 Orangewomen beat the No. 3 Cavaliers for the third straight year. The 14-13-win at Charlottesville began a promising season for a young Syracuse team.

‘It’s one of those games where we run, they run,’ SU head coach Lisa Miller said. ‘It comes down to who scores on their last shot. We did and they didn’t.’

SU scored four goals in seven minutes in the come-from-behind win. The Orangewomen did not have a lead until junior Monica Joines scored the game winner with 3:13 remaining in the second half. SU caught the Cavaliers in transition and found Joines, who snuck behind the defense for the goal.

‘Like (Miller) says, Virginia’s not used to losing,’ Joines said. ‘Once you have that emotional edge over them, it’s like a mental game. We just want to keep up the trend.

‘No one loves practice. We beat each other up for five or six weeks in a row and it finally paid off.’

Senior Leigh-Ann Zimmer, who was named to the preseason women’s Tewaaraton Trophy watch list, had a career-high seven points, including six goals. Zimmer and Joines are two of the 25 women competing for the trophy, which is presented to the nation’s best female and male lacrosse players. Joines finished with two goals and two assists Saturday.

Sophomore Jennifer Kasel started the season in net and made a big save in the final seconds to preserve the win. Although Kasel made 12 saves in her first career start, Miller was not ready to name her the starter. Freshman Bethel Steele should see some time early this season.

‘Jen just had that upperclassman edge,’ Joines said. ‘She’s been in more game-like situations. Last year, Jen was always ready to go in. She was always ready on the sidelines, and she finally got her opportunity.’

Three other Orangewomen got their first career starts against Virginia. Sophomore Melody Agnew and freshmen Jill DePetris and Ashley Pike all started for the first time. Agnew and DePetris played all 60 minutes, and both scored their first collegiate goal.

‘It was awesome,’ DePetris said. ‘It was exciting just playing against Virginia. I was only expecting to play in case they needed me.’

‘I was waiting to do that for a while,’ Agnew said. ‘I had a couple of good shots last year. It was good to help out the team.’

The schedule doesn’t get any easier. The Orangewomen face No. 2 Maryland on Wednesday at the Carrier Dome. The Terrapins have won seven of the last eight national championships.

‘They play with attitude and confidence,’ Miller said. ‘We just want to play the same way.’

Published on March 1, 2004 at 12:00 pm