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Syracuse head coach Lisa Miller gathered her team for the game’s first timeout. 

It was March 14, 1998. Syracuse trailed then-No. 5 Maryland 8-0. The Terrapins were the defending National Champions and the Orange were playing in their first-ever game. 

“Welcome to Division-I lacrosse,” Miller said, smiling in the huddle. 

After the passing of Title IX in 1972, which granted equal opportunity for women in collegiate education and sport, the NCAA formally recognized women’s lacrosse during the 1981-82 season. However, Syracuse’s inaugural campaign didn’t come until the spring of 1998. Twenty-five years later, the Orange are boasting an undefeated 7-0 record. But, the program came from humble beginnings — a roster that fielded mostly freshman — opening its account against a Maryland team hoping to capture its fourth straight NCAA title. 

From 1997-2000, Syracuse introduced three new women’s sports. Before women’s lacrosse began in 1998, women’s soccer kicked off in the fall of 1997 and softball started during the 1999-2000 season. SU Athletics disbanded men’s wrestling and gymnastics to adhere to Title IX regulations. 

Originally an assistant coach at Brown University, Miller was appointed to be the first head coach in program history in June of 1996. SU provided three scholarships and Miller was granted a year-and-a-half to recruit. 

Her theory was to recruit “athletes first and lacrosse players second,” showing up to scope out talent at all sorts of high school sporting events. Miller said there wasn’t an issue in coaxing players to join the Syracuse program despite its recent establishment. The men’s team was already storied, having won five national titles by 1995. 

No particular thought went into Miller scheduling Maryland for SU’s season opener. She just wanted her team to face the best. 

“I wanted them to experience the pace of the game at a really high level,” Miller said. “For me, I wanted them to see the absolute best and then we would adjust from there.” 

Back then, teams didn’t readily have access to much film. Miller remembers scouting the Terrapins by attending their games. On the sideline, she’d have just one chance to spot patterns or tendencies that she could note down. 

For a young and inexperienced Syracuse squad, the Orange didn’t feel pressure coming into the game. Almost everyone on the team was a freshman and were called crazy for committing to SU in the first place. But the group, which Miller deemed “able to have fun in a paper bag,” was determined that it would beat Maryland. 

“We were fearless and clueless,” former Syracuse midfielder Katrina Hable said. “We were a little confused, a little nervous, but we were a bunch of fearless, confident, very naive players that thought they could win.” 

Hable grew up around lacrosse. She attended West Genesee high school and helped spearhead its inaugural season during her sophomore year in 1995. Miller first saw her play at a summer indoor box lacrosse league. Originally, Hable wanted to play college basketball.

“I was the dominant scorer,” Hable said. “The untouchable type.” 

But, everyone on that SU team knew the lore of Maryland’s program. Coached by Hall of Famer Cindy Timchal, it showcased midfielder Sascha Newmarch, who would end up winning National Player of the Year, and attack Cathy Nelson, the country’s top returning goal-scorer. The Terrapins also had legendary player, and current head coach of the SU men’s program, Gary Gait, as an assistant.

After the opening draw, Maryland dominated and went into halftime holding a commanding 14-3 lead. Miller said the Orange were outmatched in size, strength and experience. The rules of lacrosse were also different back then, many of which favored the Terrapins. 

“It was just so physical,” former Syracuse attack Karen Healy said. “We just weren’t ready for the physicalness of the Division-I game.” 

There were no restraining lines, which meant players could throw the ball out of bounds then beat them to the ball. Five players were allowed in the draw circle instead of three and sticks were flat instead of offset — providing players with a far more shallow pocket resulting in less powerful shots. There also wasn’t a shot clock.

Jenna Szyluk, who led SU in points and goals that season, said she didn’t remember much from the game apart from a brief interaction with a referee. Running side-by-side with a Maryland defender, she took several hits from the opposition’s stick to the thigh. Szyluk remembered looking at the official in disbelief, motioning to her leg, but the response was to play on. 

SU’s Krissy Langenmayr became the first scorer in program history at the 16:20 mark of the opening half. 

“When we scored our first goal, we cheered as if we just won the game,” Healy said. “Everytime we scored, we weren’t paying attention to the goal differential. We were just excited to be out there and playing lacrosse.” 

Hable said that the lone goal gave Syracuse a boost of confidence, knowing that it scored against the reigning National Champions. 

Healy, now the current head coach at Howard, didn’t score any goals in the matchup. But, during that inaugural season, she served as Miller’s do-it-all player. Her stick skills weren’t the best, but she was scrappy and even played as a backup goalie for SU on two separate occasions. 

Syracuse scored four more goals in the game. Miller remembered most of those scores came late, after the Terrapins had introduced most of its substitutes. Maryland ended up winning 21-7. Szyluk and Hable led all SU scorers with two goals apiece. 

“I will never forget it,” Miller said. “It scarred my brain.”

Trudging off the field, the lopsided scoreline wasn’t all that was taken from the game. Miller said she was impressed by how her team never came unraveled, nor did it play afraid. In agreement with some of her players, she admitted that the Orange could’ve been better prepared and there were some lapses in her coaching, but as long as she didn’t “screw things up,” Miller believed they’d compete in the NCAA Tournament in a couple of years. 

Moving forward, the Orange went 9-3 in its final 12 games to close out the season. In its home opener at the Dome, SU trounced Siena 19-0. At one point, it led the nation in scoring. Szyluk, Hable and Healy also all earned regional All-America second-team honors. Its 14-point blowout loss to Maryland was a harsh beginning, but what followed showed that Syracuse women’s lacrosse belonged. 

“You can appreciate talent,” Healy said about the Terrapins. “I definitely had that respect, but we also said it was going to be the last time that this happens.”

Published on March 14, 2023 at 5:57 pm

Contact Tyler: trschiff@syr.edu | @theTylerSchiff