Football wasn’t the only Syracuse athletic program spending the past month scouring for an additional 2002 opponent.

While the football team recently selected Division I-AA lightweight Rhode Island as its 12th opponent for the upcoming season, the women’s lacrosse team decided upon an appreciably tougher foe to finalize its schedule.

Now, the Orangewomen open their season Saturday at 3 p.m. against Stanford, the newfound opponent that renders their weekend trip to California anything but a vacation.

‘Playing Stanford was something we had wanted to do for a while,’ head coach Lisa Miller said. ‘We thought we couldn’t do it this year in terms of finances, but Stanford worked really hard, did some fundraising and got some people to finance it. So that’s what made it possible.’

In Palo Alto, Calif., the contest is being billed the deBeer East/West Challenge. The challenge for Syracuse may be avoiding the three-game losing streak that marred the opening of last season.

The Cardinal, winners of the Western Women’s Lacrosse League championship for four consecutive years, entered the national rankings briefly last year and finished as the only West Coast team to appear in the polls.

‘I know that they’re one of the best teams on the West Coast, but I don’t know how that measures up against the East Coast,’ goaltender Carla Gigon said. ‘There’s probably a little difference.’

Gigon might also notice a difference in the defenders playing in front of her this season. Sami Stock and Jessica DeRosa, neither of whom started a single game last year, will be the lone defense between Cardinal attackers and SU’s junior netminder.

Stock and DeRosa figure to have their hands full. Stanford, which titled itself the ‘Best in the West,’ features a roster consisting of almost 75 percent underclassmen. Yet when discussing experience, the Cardinal may actually hold an edge.

Last week, they opened their season with a pair of victories over UC Davis and St. Mary’s (Calif.). In the process, six freshmen climbed to the top of the team’s scoring chart, led by midfielder Julia Calzonetti (six goals).

‘I know that they’re a very aggressive team,’ Miller said. ‘They have a very talented freshman class. They were competitive last year, so with that freshman class, you never know what can happen now.’

Syracuse might have some uncertainties of its own, especially if it relies on a transition game that has yet to be executed on a full, 100-yard field due to limited practice space.

‘Our transition game needs to be worked on a little bit,’ said sophomore attacker Leigh-Ann Zimmer, who led last year’s squad with 36 goals. ‘That’s what we’ve been focusing on this week, and hopefully it will be cleaned up for Stanford. We need to get all the kinks out before we play them.’

The Orangewomen may still have some blemishes, but that hasn’t erased the national respect generated by last season’s 10-5 record and first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance.

In a recent poll in Inside Lacrosse Magazine, college coaches ranked Syracuse 10th in the nation.

In the Big East, midfielder Carrie Soults and Zimmer were appointed to the preseason all-conference team. Georgetown was the unanimous choice to finish first. Syracuse was selected second.

‘Still, I think a lot of those predictions go on what happened last year,’ junior Jessica Trombley said. ‘By the way I’ve seen us playing in practice, I think we’ll move up once we start playing.’

Syracuse did play in three scrimmage games at Pennsylvania last weekend, games Miller said SU won with ease. Nonetheless, those contests don’t compare to the Challenge the Orangewomen will meet against Stanford.

‘We’ll be really excited to play our first game,’ Trombley said. ‘We’re just so excited to finally get out there.’

Published on February 21, 2002 at 12:00 pm