For the Syracuse women’s lacrosse team, Wednesday’s matchup with Dartmouth will likely serve as a motivational tool for the rest of the season.

Playing without senior defensewoman Lindsay Rogers, and just three days after narrowly falling to No. 1 Northwestern, the No. 7 Orange (4-3) suffered its most lopsided defeat on Wednesday afternoon, falling to Dartmouth, 17-10, in front of 187 fans at Coyne Field.

SU’s 10 goals scored was its worst mark of the season, and its 17 goals allowed was its second worst. One of the few bright spots for the Orange on this day was senior midfielder Christina Dove, who, with her three goals, continued her streak of consecutive games with a goal to 47.

‘We didn’t respond to the challenge and we didn’t keep our composure,’ SU head coach Gary Gait said. ‘And instead of having energy and hustle and fighting back, we were beaten down a little bit. It was a tough game. Certainly losing one of your top defenders is tough, but it’s all about how you respond.’

Players were not made available to the media following the outcome.

From early on in the first half, the No. 11 Big Green (4-1) seemed to outhustle SU. And for the first time all season, Syracuse had the daunting task of coming back from a substantial deficit.

Unfortunately for the Orange, fighting its way back into the game would be far easier said than done.

SU jumped out to an early 2-0 lead with 28:45 remaining in the first half, but that would be the last time the Orange would be on top. Dartmouth scored five of the next six goals to give the Big Green a 5-3 lead before senior attack Jackie DePetris scored an unassisted goal to cut the lead to one. But the momentum would not be sustained, as Dartmouth scored five consecutive goals to give the Ivy League school a commanding 10-4 lead.

And Dartmouth never looked back from that point on.

‘I guess,’ Gait said in regard to whether Dartmouth’s five-goal scoring run took the wind out of his team. ‘I tried timeouts. I tried to talk to them. But it gets to a point when if they’re not focused mentally, there’s not much you can do.’

Though the Orange only trailed by four goals heading into the second half, Dartmouth started exactly where it left off after the break. The Big Green scored seven of the first eight goals of the half, taking a 17-7 lead with 16:30 left to go in the contest. Dartmouth’s scoring streak occurred just as Dove received a yellow card at the 26:45 mark. With SU’s most explosive player sitting on the sidelines, Dartmouth scored four straight goals to put the game out of reach.

Though the Orange had previously lost two games this season, Syracuse hung tough in each of those matchups and only lost by a goal in each meeting.

But amid that nugget of information, there wasn’t much else for Orange fans to be pleased about Wednesday afternoon. What was more disturbing than the unfavorable score was the uncharacteristically sloppy style of play that haunted Syracuse. The team had 19 turnovers to Dartmouth’s 16, committed 39 fouls to Dartmouth’s 15 and received an astounding seven yellow cards. The Big Green received none.

For the first time in 2010, Syracuse seemed undisciplined and, to put it simply, appeared to be outplayed. And Gait has a pretty good idea of why his team struggled.

‘I would have told them to do whatever they needed to do,’ Gait said. ‘They just looked sloppy and lethargic. They kept making mistakes and there wasn’t anyone in particular who was able to step up and lead on the field. We’ll just have to go back and watch the game film and review our preparation. We need to do some more mental work and prepare.’

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Published on March 24, 2010 at 12:00 pm