SU players dislike series of home games away from Dome
Christina Dove (left) and the SU womens lacrosse team played on three separate home turfs last week. Syracuse was happy to return to the Carrier Dome Sunday.
Jackie DePetris grabbed her permanent marker and signed an orange hat for the child standing in the front row of the Carrier Dome after Sunday’s win over Rutgers.
After playing two straight ‘home’ games away from the Carrier Dome, it was good to be back.
Following a stretch marked by struggle and defeat, No. 9 SU took its place on the field to play its third home game of the week against the Scarlet Knights. But this setting was a lot more familiar than its previous two games in the week. The game was played in the Carrier Dome, not at the unfamiliar confines of Christian Brothers Academy or Coyne Field like its previous two.
‘It was different in the sense that it wasn’t in the Dome, but I think we had a lot of our regular fans there,’ junior attack Tee Ladouceur said of the two home games away from the Dome. ‘Even though it wasn’t in the Dome, it was still a home game and we have to learn to adjust to different settings like that.’
The first pseudo-home game was against No. 1 Northwestern at Christian Brothers Academy. The game was played before 1,583 people, the second-largest crowd in school history.
But the game might as well have been a road game with a large contingent of the crowd clad in purple. The ‘Go Cats’ cheers drowned out any pro-Syracuse chants.
The second matchup found the Orange pitted against No. 8 Dartmouth. But SU had to battle the Big Green on top of the daunting AstroTurf of Coyne Field, which accelerates play and throws off the Orange’s game.
‘Playing Dartmouth on AstroTurf was a little bit different. We’re not used to playing on that surface,’ senior attack Halley Quillinan said. ‘It’s a different game. Do I think it was a seven-goal difference? Absolutely not.’
Syracuse was forced from its domain as the Dome was being transformed into a host site for the NCAA Tournament. As SU was playing its game with Northwestern, the court was being laid down for the East Regional.
The Orange has had plenty of success in the Dome, winning 10 straight games in that setting dating all the way back to Feb. 27 of last season.
The freshmen have been able to experience the love for the site as well. Despite only playing a handful of games at the Dome, players like Michelle Tumolo talked about how they feel about playing there.
‘It was a rush. When you get that adrenaline pumping, you can’t stop moving — you just want to get out there and tear it up for your team,’ Tumolo said after her first game. ‘It was awesome, it was an awesome feeling.’
SU can look back on its share of ‘home games’ and appreciate the battles that it has faced. Despite the two losses, the team gained valuable experience with variable conditions.
And for Syracuse players, that also means not blaming the losses on the foreign turf.
During the team’s media opportunity on Tuesday, assistant coach Regy Thorpe walked by and yelled to Ladouceur after he heard questions regarding the non-home games.
‘No excuses,’ Thorpe said.
Replied Ladouceur: ‘Yeah, as Regy said, no excuses at all.’
Published on March 31, 2010 at 12:00 pm
