The screen high above empty stands showcased what had just happened, and Gary Gait, a composed man of little emotion, lifted his head and nodded. Finally.

Even for a head coach who expected to win, he needed this, 40 minutes of disappointment erased by one replay.

With the memories of its first loss five days prior still fresh in their heads, the Syracuse women’s lacrosse team started Wednesday afternoon chasing No. 10 Boston. It crumbled in the first 40 minutes, but eventually regrouped to play as would be expected. Working off a single play, Syracuse found a way to blow past the Eagles 17-8 Wednesday in the Carrier Dome before an audience of 183.

As he sat, hands clasped at a table set before reporters, Gait expressed just how he felt.

‘Whoo,’ he said. ‘I thought today was a great opportunity to rebound. … I feel good.’

And Gait had all his reasons.

Doubt from the memory of a 14-11 loss to Virginia Friday had stuck with his team, clinging to the Orange conscience that it carried over into first half of Wednesday’s game.

But that’s gone now. With it, his team’s hesitation turned into hustle in the second half when Syracuse shot 17 balls at the net.

‘We were down 4-0. Weren’t we?’ asked Gait, looking left to his players, and smirked.

Despite having won seven more draws than Boston, Syracuse could not control the ball and gave way to four goals in the first 10 minutes. The rest of the half was much of the same – proof that the Orange was unable to score, because it didn’t have the ball.

‘In the first we weren’t playing as confidently as we could of, going after ground balls like we’re capable of,’ attack Christina Dove said. ‘In the second it just took that long to get in our groove again.’

All it took was one play.

Forty minutes into the game, midfielder Bridget Looney drove the ball behind the BU net. With a flick of her wrist, Megan Mosenson grabbed Looney’s pass from midair. Matched with a defender, Mosenson swiveled her head twice before bursting to the left, where the traffic of Looney’s body blocked Boston goalkeeper Rachel Klein’s vision. And the ball was drilled to Klein’s right.

Defenders on the field drew at the 40-yard line to bump hips. On the sideline, players brushed shoulders and laughed. Gait walked on to the field and gave the slightest nod.

Mosenson’s goal began a five-point stretch, where the Orange began to click. Mosenson’s hat trick matched that of Looney and attack Katie Rowan. Dove had four goals for the game.

‘They were going up and down the field, they were hustling, they were breaking out to transition, but most importantly they were running and that’s what I’m happy about,’ Gait said.

Looney would draw the midfielders and attack shortly thereafter, said Halley Quillinan. What Looney said stuck: We can beat these girls.

Although the game started with struggle for SU, it ended with ease. With Looney on her right side, Mosenson would reconnect with the midfielder on a breakaway. A gliding pass over the middle of the arc, and Mosenson placed the ball in BU’s net, to give the Orange a 15-8 lead.

Gait saw the difference afterward. The sight of sweat and the sound of heavy breathing in the locker room proved to the head coach that all his team needed was effort.

‘That’s what we were talking about all week,’ Gait said. ‘The shots will come but you need to outwork the other team. And we battled back.’

edpaik@syr.edu

Published on March 4, 2009 at 12:00 pm