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Syracuse Women's Field Hockey Takes on UNC in National Semifinal

Jack Marion

The No. 4 Syracuse women’s field hockey team looks to reach its first national championship in team history on Friday afternoon.  The Orange (17-5) faces top-ranked North Carolina (19-3) in the Final Four at 2 p.m. in College Park, Md.

“It hasn’t sunk in yet,” head coach Ange Bradley said after beating Penn State in the quarterfinals on Saturday. 

Added Bradley, “I’m just so proud of these young women. They are a really special group.”

It’s Syracuse's second trip to the Final Four in three seasons.

“It’s a great feeling,” Bradley said.  “But I really didn’t have a doubt with our kids.  It’s more we wanted to get to the Final Four and expected it.  Our quest is to be prepared for Friday night’s match against North Carolina and be able to get one more. That’s what’s on the back of their shirts – one more.”

This will be the third meeting between the Tar Heels and Orange this season.  North Carolina won the first match, 3-0.  Most recently, Syracuse had a 3-2 overtime win in the ACC Tournament semifinals.  Bradley expects a good match in meeting No. 3.

“We’re both really good teams and we play a really nice brand of hockey, both teams,” Bradley said.  “I expect that it’s going to be a good game of hockey.”

One name to keep an eye on is Emma Russell.  The junior has 20 goals on the year. That’s more than a quarter of the goals the entire team has tallied. She knows from the last time these teams met that the Orange is capable of getting past the Tar Heels.

“We just need to focus on how we’re going to play and play our own game and kind of just work on keeping the passing going and creating space,” Russell said.  “If we play like that, I know it’s going to be a really good game as Ange said. So it’s just kind of preparing ourselves for Friday and then executing the plan.”

The team may not get as much fan support as the men’s soccer squad has gotten for its recent run, as far as fan attendance is concerned. But Russell said it was still nice to host the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament in Syracuse.

“It was really great to be home this weekend,” Russell said.  “We had obviously been away at the ACC for five, six days so it was nice to be home and not have to travel.  And then obviously, playing on the field where we train for hours every day – it’s just a more comfortable environment just to be home.”

Freshmen standouts like Lies Lagerweij said that Russell and the upperclassmen have really helped out the younger players.

“They’re such an example for us,” Lagerweij said.  “Not only on the field, but it’s off the field like discipline, how bad you want things, how to get through a fitness test. Everything like that, they showed us. And if you see other people do it, you believe in yourself that you can do it.”

Syracuse will get a chance at redemption. It was the Tar Heels who eliminated Syracuse in the Final Four two years ago with a 6-1 thrashing.  But Bradley is confident in her team and said that they’ve gotten better as the season has gone on

“We’re doing well. We’re growing each week,” Bradley said.  “This team is not finished improving and that’s different than any team I’ve coached here in Syracuse. We started strong, kind of were a little sloppy in the first contest of ACC and we’re growing each week."

Said Bradley, "That’s really been fun for me as a coach with this group.”