For the Syracuse women’s lacrosse team, the early portion of its regular-season schedule has been anything but a simple learning experience.

Typically, a nonconference schedule is a precursor. It is a time for a team to learn about its identity, its strengths and its weaknesses before the grueling conference schedule begins. But for the Orange, it has had to do so against a flurry of ranked opponents.

After the No. 7 Orange (4-2) hosts No. 11 Dartmouth (3-1) today at 3 p.m., SU will have played five nationally ranked opponents in its first seven games. The Orange has defeated No. 12 Stanford (5-2) and No. 9 Towson (5-1) while falling to No. 6 Virginia (6-2) and No. 1 Northwestern (6-0).

Syracuse’s schedule has provided a challenge for the team right out of the gate this season. But head coach Gary Gait wouldn’t have it any other way.

‘It’s been great,’ Gait said. ‘To play a tough schedule is a goal of mine. We increase our strength of schedule every year so that we can become one of those top five teams in the country. The goal is to play the best of the best and be successful at it. It has put the pressure on early, and it’s made us really work on a lot of different things and look at different styles of play.’

With March coming to a close, the Orange has also had its stamina tested. SU had a significant amount of days off in the beginning of the season, including a nine-day hiatus from Feb. 27 to Mach 8. But by tonight, Syracuse will have played three ranked opponents over a weeklong span with the Big East opener just four days away.

Though the schedule has been tiring, the players believe that it has appropriately prepped them for the more demanding Big East slate, in which games are played far more frequently.

‘I think over the past couple weeks we’ve had so many games,’ senior attack Jackie DePetris said. ‘At the beginning of the season we had such long breaks. We would have a game and then a whole week off and then a game and a whole week off. But now it’s constant because we’re playing every couple of days, and it’s easier to bring our confidence level into the next game.’

With the Big East schedule nearly upon it, Syracuse is poised to begin a run directly up the conference standings. The Orange was chosen second in the conference in a preseason vote by the conference head coaches, falling just short of No. 14 Georgetown (2-4) for the top spot. In an odd set of circumstances, SU’s Big East schedule appears to be far less challenging than its nonconference one.

But despite that sentiment, the Orange knows that it can’t take any of its league games for granted, regardless of what team records say.

‘Maybe a little bit,’ junior attack Tee Ladouceur said when commenting on whether the schedule will be less daunting from here on out. ‘But the Big East teams that we’re going to play are also pretty tough, so it’s not going to get much easier. We’re going to take it one game at a time and will hopefully be as prepared for each of the games as we need to be.’

Looking back on the nonconference schedule, Syracuse has played moderately well. Aside from a heartbreaking loss to Northwestern, the Orange beat two out of four ranked teams. After today’s game against Dartmouth, SU will have a better understanding of whether or not it can call its nonconference schedule a success.

But whether SU loses or manages to pull out the victory, Gait knows that the past is the past. A new season begins on Sunday, and the players need to take what they’ve learned from the first seven games and apply it to what truly defines a season — the Big East schedule.

‘Now we move forward,’ Gait said. ‘We’re the highest-ranked team in the Big East at this point, so we’re supposed to win the rest of the way. It’s going to be a great mental test for us to be prepared and focused for every team that comes after us. And we’re going to take it to the Big East and show them that we deserve to be the best.’

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Published on March 23, 2010 at 12:00 pm