Field Hockey

Syracuse rises to No. 1 spot in rankings

Logan Reidsma | Photo Editor

Syracuse has yet to lose a game this season and is coming off a 2-0 weekend when it outscored Cornell and Monmouth 14-1.

Syracuse (11-0, 3-0 Atlantic Coast) moved from No. 2 to No. 1 in the latest NFHCA Coaches poll Tuesday morning to top the national rankings for the first time since 2012. The Orange is coming off a 2-0 weekend in which it outscored opponents Monmouth (3-9) and Cornell (5-4, 1-1 Ivy) by a 14-1 margin.

60 days from now, it’s going to mean a heck of a lot more,” SU head coach Ange Bradley said. “We’d probably be the happiest people in the world,” Bradley said. “For today, it’s a reward of the work we’ve done but it means nothing at this point in time.”

SU earned 915 points and 15 first-place votes to overtake the only other undefeated team in the country — No. 2 Connecticut (11-0) — who earned 894 points and 25 first-place votes. The Orange began the season ranked No. 4, climbed to No. 3 in the first poll and moved to No. 2 the following week before finally passing the Huskies.

The first-place ranking rests on the undefeated record coupled with six wins over ranked opponents, including then-No. 2 North Carolina, then-No. 4 Virginia, then-No. 6 Stanford, then-No. 11 Boston College, then-No. 17 Boston University and then-No. 18 Massachusetts.

Syracuse faces a pair of road matches this weekend when it visits No. 11 Louisville (7-4, 0-4 ACC) Friday at 6 p.m. and Indiana (6-5, 2-1 Big Ten) at 1 p.m. Sunday.







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