The Daily Orange

Media Credit: Nick Ruggiero

May 22 -- Gary Gait has had a hand in plenty of dynasties. As a player, his Syracuse teams were 51-5 and won three straight NCAA titles. As an assistant coach at Maryland, the women's lacrosse team won seven championships and lost 16 games in nine years.

Now he's on the other side - his Syracuse women's lacrosse team is the clear underdog to three-time defending national champion Northwestern in the national semifinal Friday.

And he knows exactly what it will take to come away victorious.

"We know we have to play our perfect game," Gait said in a conference call Tuesday. "We have to limit our mistakes. We have to capitalize on our opportunities."

That's the tall task looming for a Syracuse squad making its first-ever trip to the final four. SU takes on No. 1 Northwestern - which holds an 81-3 record over the past four years - at 6 p.m. at Johnny Unitas Stadium in Towson, Md.

No. 2 Pennsylvania and Duke will play in the other semifinal following Syracuse's game. The winners play in the national championship Sunday at 7 p.m.

Gait's directive for the perfect game comes for obvious reasons.

Northwestern's impressive record notwithstanding, the Wildcats (19-1) possess more experience in this situation than Syracuse (18-2). Under head coach Kelly Amonte Hiller, NU has made the final four for four consecutive years.

Then, there's the first meeting between the two teams earlier this season, a convincing 19-7 victory for the Wildcats on March 24. Northwestern outscored Syracuse, 14-3, in a lopsided second half thanks to a huge advantage in draw controls. Gait said Northwestern simply played SU into submission.

So what to do?

"I don't think we're going to reinvent the wheel here," Gait laughed. "I think we're just going to make some tweaks, a few changes, and hopefully we'll have a little better game than we did the first time."

Gait is banking on more preparation time making a difference. Plus, he expects more from junior Katie Rowan.

Rowan, who leads the nation with 142 points, and holds every major offensive record in Syracuse history, managed one shot against the Wildcats. That's all.

Hiller isn't anticipating the same result this time.

"She's just so unbelievably dynamic," Hiller said of Rowan. "She can do anything on the field and I think we were able to limit her. But this is a big stage and I'm sure she's going to step up. We're going to try and play good team defense and see what we can do."

Continued...

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