Syracuse women’s lacrosse coach Lisa Miller tried her best to be diplomatic Wednesday. All night her team was getting checked to the turf while the referees’ whistles remained buried in their pockets.

‘It is a non-contact sport,’ Miller said. ‘Did you know that?’

During No. 8 Syracuse’s 9-6 win over No. 15 Notre Dame, it certainly didn’t look like it.

‘If you’re winning in the game, the other team usually gets more physical,’ Miller said. ‘Leigh-Ann (Zimmer) got flattened at the end of the first half, and there was no call. God only knows how that happened.’

After Syracuse gained a 6-1 lead at halftime, Notre Dame’s rough play began to take the Orangewomen out of their rhythm. Two minutes into the second half, Notre Dame’s Danielle Shearer scored two free-position goals to cut the deficit to 6-3.

The Orangewomen (7-2, 4-1 Big East) responded with just enough offense to hold the Irish off. Syracuse was led by the usual suspects — offensive leaders Zimmer, sophomore Monica Joines and senior Kim Wayne were responsible for 10 of the 11 points Syracuse recorded.

‘I had a decent game,’ Zimmer said. ‘I felt my first half was better than my second half.’

That seems like an understatement for someone who scored four goals, had another disallowed for a crease violation and scooped six ground balls. Using Zimmer’s standards, Wayne would have had a decent game, too. Wayne scored a goal and dished two assists.

SU goalie Carla Gigon did her part in keeping Notre Dame down. She had 11 saves — including a number of point-blank saves off of free-positions — to lead the Orangewomen.

Notre Dame gave Gigon plenty of opportunities to stand out. Referees awarded the Irish nine free-positions as opposed to SU’s four because of multiple questionable calls.

‘Diplomatically,’ Miller said. ‘I’d say they called the game the best that they could have.’

Truthfully for Miller, the refs best wasn’t good enough. Even so, Miller expected a physical game, saying that it’s always rough when these two teams meet.. The Irish (3-4, 2-1) beat the Orangewomen 12-7 last year.

‘We tend to be littler and quicker than most teams,’ Miller said. ‘So we’re going to end up on the turf more than most teams.’

Miller said that she accepts physical play, but when the safety of her players is jeopardized — as she felt it was in Wednesday’s game — that’s when she takes offense.

‘I don’t mind dealing with the bump,’ Miller said. ‘(But) I don’t like getting hit from behind. That’s a call that needs to be made by the referee because it’s dangerous. If you hit me from behind, my inclination would be to get up and take your head off.’

Published on April 2, 2003 at 12:00 pm