Syracuse attack Michelle Tumolo suffered a torn left ACL and requires surgery, SU Athletics announced Thursday.

No timetable has been determined for the surgery, head coach Gary Gait said. Gait added that he has yet to look into appealing for a medical redshirt for Tumolo, but said he plans to.

“As a coach, you feel bad for the athlete that goes down hurt, anytime that happens,” Gait said. “But I think as a coach, we all understand that you got to be ready for these situations. … We played all year to be prepared to be deep and have some players that can play if one did go down.

“We’ll just move forward and hopefully the team will come tighter and kind of rally around Michelle and we’ll see.”

The senior went down at the 18:38 mark in the first half of the No. 5 Orange’s 16-4 win over Cornell on Tuesday afternoon. Tumolo twisted her left knee as she hustled toward midfield on a ride, trying to prevent a Big Red clear.

She lay on the Carrier Dome turf for several minutes near the Syracuse sideline and needed assistance getting to her feet. Tumolo walked off under her own power, but was visibly emotional as she sat on the Syracuse bench.

In Tumolo’s absence on Tuesday, freshman attack Kayla Treanor assumed the senior’s offensive role in playing behind the cage, a location Treanor said after the game she’s comfortable playing from.

Tumolo’s experience and production will be difficult for the Orange to replace. She leads the Orange with 24 assists this season and is third with 22 goals. One of the most celebrated players in program history, Tumolo ranks No. 3 in SU history with 278 points. She is second on the all-time assists list with 137 and fifth in career goals with 141.

“It’s real upsetting, you never want to see someone go down but it’s part of the game,” junior attack Alyssa Murray said. “It’s difficult to deal with but she wants us to keep playing because she would do anything to get back on the field, so just got to win it for her.”

Published on April 18, 2013 at 12:12 pm

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