The Syracuse women’s lacrosse team must have thought yesterday’s game was an elementary school recess.

With almost 25 minutes of play stoppages, SU’s 14-5 victory over New Hampshire had all the starts and stops of a giant ‘Red Light, Green Light’ playground battle.

Three whistles in the first minute. Four yellow cards and an ejection. Twelve free-position shots. Twenty-one draw controls.

The No. 14 Orangewomen, though, used the stop-and-go tempo to their advantage, easing past UNH with a deliberate offense and strong fundamentals. Thanks to its technical style, head coach Lisa Miller said, the lights flashed green for a Syracuse victory.

‘We got back into what was our game plan from a long time ago,’ Miller said. ‘We kept the ball for long stretches, and that allows the defense to rest. That’s the type of game we want to play.’

Yesterday’s officials — whose constant whistling prompted one observer to question whether they were being paid by the hour — presented each team with six free-position shots. While equal in the number of opportunities, Syracuse outscored New Hampshire by three goals in that department.

Kim Wayne, who assisted on five SU goals, opened the scoring with a free-position shot from about eight yards in front of Wildcat goalie Danielle Martin. Upon the ref’s whistle, the lanky junior took two steps toward the goal before firing a shot into the upper right corner.

In the second half, goalie Carla Gigon knocked away two bouncing UNH free-position shots that kept SU’s lead at a touchdown.

Before the Orangewomen entered cruise-control mode, however, a Wildcat goal seven seconds before halftime made it 7-3. And Syracuse had a 10-minute red light to think about it.

‘But Coach wasn’t upset,’ sophomore Leigh-Ann Zimmer said. ‘She just told us that we need to work on winning on the draws and controlling the ball.’

With every passing faceoff, Carrie Soults did just that. The 6-foot midfielder helped Syracuse hold a 15-6 edge, often stealing the ball from shorter opponents.

‘I was just trying to toss it up to myself,’ Soults said, ‘because I’m usually taller than the girl I’m playing against. The girl today was pretty small.’

Once Syracuse gained possession off the draw, it deftly kept the ball away from UNH defenders. Syracuse can credit its methodical offense and, of course, plenty of noise from the refs.

Syracuse was handed four yellow cards, including two to senior Devon Baer, who was tossed from the game after her stick struck Wildcat attacker Jessie Groszkowski on the side of the face. Zimmer and fellow attacker Danielle Lillis each received one.

‘Any whistle that stops things I don’t mind,’ said Soults, who said the game wasn’t particularly aggressive. ‘I don’t know what was with the yellow cards. We play a physical game and sometimes just get unlucky.”

For now, Miller will take the yellow cards so long as they come with the same controlling tempo that the Orangewomen exhibited against New Hampshire. Yellow lights, though, are another story.

Published on April 14, 2002 at 12:00 pm