VILLANOVA, PA — A quick take on fourth-seeded Syracuse’s stinging 11-10 defeat to unbeaten Maryland in the national semifinals of the NCAA tournament, on an unseasonably chilly Memorial Day weekend evening at Villanova Stadium in front of a crowd of 6,278:
WHAT HAPPENED: With the temperature in the high forties at game time, the number-one ranked Terrapins (23-0) raced out to a 7-4 halftime lead before the Orange chipped away. Midfielder Katie Webster’s goal with 18:31 to play gave the Orange (18-4) their first lead at 10-9, and it was back-and forth the rest of the way until the Terps Brooke Griffin scored with 2:51 left to provide the winning margin.
WHAT IT MEANS: Close, but no cigar, at another shot for a national title for Gary Gait in his seventh season of leading the program. after falling to Northwestern in last year’s championship game, and coming two wins shy this season.
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STAR GAZING: ‘Cuse freshman attack Kayla Treanor ended her spectacular rookie season in orange and blue scoring four times and assisting on two other goals. Treanor is dangerous close to the net; all four of her tallies came on beautiful one-on-one moves to the cage. Sophomore goalie Kelsey Richardson had nine saves in defeat.
WHAT’S NEXT: After a post-game autograph session in which both teams sign for hundreds of fans, it’s a summer of workouts and camps before fall practice in Sept. and the debut season in the ACC in 2014.
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