It took Syracuse men’s soccer eight tries, but it finally secured its first Big East win.

The Orange (5-6-1, 1-6-1 Big East) topped Villanova, 1-0, on Saturday at the Villanova Soccer Complex. Freshman Hansen Woodruff scored the game’s lone goal. Spencer Schomaker and Kyle Hall assisted Woodruff’s fourth goal of the season.

SU goalie Robert Cavicchia recorded his second shutout of the season. He recorded seven saves in the event.

The Orange hosts Hartwick on Tuesday for its final non-conference game.

Cross Country

The SU cross country team swept both the men’s and women’s races at the National Open in State College, Pa.

The men’s team is still undefeated and ranked sixth in the latest U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association poll.

Sophomore transfer Jeff Scull finished third overall in the men’s race to lead Syracuse. He has posted the best SU time in all three races he has participated in this season. The Orange finished ahead of 16 other teams, including Cornell, who was ranked fourth last week.

Nana Sang-Bender led the SU women with a time of 21:22 – good enough for second overall. The women are ranked ninth and have won two of four meets this season – finishing second in the other two.

Volleyball

Syracuse split its two Big East matches this weekend, defeating DePaul on Friday, but dropped a three-game match to Notre Dame Sunday.

Before the loss to Notre Dame, SU (7-17, 2-4) had a four-game winning streak following an 11-game losing streak. The Orange defeated DePaul in four games, using early leads to stop the Blue Demons.

Freshman Kacie MacTavish led SU in kills in both contests with a total of 29 over the weekend. She added 27 digs.

Women’s soccer

In its final road game of the season, Syracuse (2-10-3, 1-5-1) fell to Connecticut on Sunday, 2-0. SU played UConn tough in the first half, entering halftime with a scoreless tie. But the Huskies scored twice in the second half on goalie Eliza Bennett-Hattan.

The Orange hosts Rutgers on Friday at 7 p.m.

Field hockey

Syracuse fell back to .500 both overall and in Big East play after a 1-0 loss to Villanova in Philadelphia on Friday.

The Wildcats’ Emily Donaldson scored in the 58th minute. SU’s Heather Hess made six saves.

Compiled by assistant sports editors Zach Berman and Matt Gelb

Published on October 7, 2006 at 12:00 pm