In the semifinals of last season’s Big East tournament, Syracuse trailed Loyola by three goals with less than 1:30 left. The Orange cut the deficit to one but fell short.

SU was eliminated from the conference tournament and failed to make the NCAA tournament.

This Friday, Syracuse has its first opportunity for revenge.

‘It’s like a playoff game for us,’ senior defender Jill Cammett said. ‘It’s for the Big East regular season championship, and I think we’re taking it like it’s pretty much the national tournament.’

Though this weekend isn’t the postseason, it does boast SU’s last two regular-season games. No. 2 Syracuse (13-2, 6-0 Big East) hosts the No. 14 Greyhounds (10-4, 6-0) Friday at 7 p.m. at the SU Soccer Stadium because the Carrier Dome is hosting Block Party. The Orange then closes its regular-season slate against Villanova (4-10, 2-4 Big East) Sunday at 1 p.m. in the Carrier Dome.

A pair of victories would net Syracuse the conference crown and send it into postseason play on a program-best, 14-game winning streak. And a win over Loyola would give the Orange a mental edge over the Greyhounds should they meet again in this year’s Big East tournament.

Loyola is second in the nation with 11.6 caused turnovers per game and has won six of its last seven games starting with a marquee victory over No. 6 Notre Dame on April 1.

But Cammett said the Orange – ranked fourth in the nation in scoring offense – isn’t intimidated.

‘We’re not going to change anything and react to their defense at all,’ Cammett said. ‘From here, we’re just going to run our plays, do what we need to do and get it done like we have in the past games.’

And 12 straight wins, coming by an average of nearly nine goals per game, certainly qualifies as getting it done.

Six Orange players enter the weekend with more than 20 goals, led by sophomore Alyssa Murray (54) and junior Michelle Tumolo (33). Both were named finalists for the Tewaaraton Trophy.

‘They’re really good at getting caused turnovers, so we need to make sure that we’re protecting our sticks and just focusing on all the fundamentals,’ Tumolo said.

Loyola defenders Kellye Gallagher and Ana Heneberry have forced a combined 69 turnovers, but the duo has committed 74 of the Greyhound’s 302 fouls this season. Loyola has also been charged with 23 yellow cards, tied for seventh-most in the nation.

‘They have a couple really aggressive defenders,’ SU head coach Gary Gait said, ‘but with caused turnovers come fouls. So we’re also working on executing eight meters, executing fouls and free positions.’

If the Orange can execute and earn a sweep this weekend, it would go into the Big East tournament as the No. 1 seed and give it a chance to get the No. 1 overall ranking in the NCAA tournament.

Perennial powerhouse No. 1 Northwestern fell to No. 3 Florida 8-7 on Saturday, its first loss since last season, leaving that top spot up for grabs.

But Cammett and the Orange aren’t concerned about rankings.

‘I don’t think rankings mean much to us right now,’ Cammett said. ‘We’ve just got to play our game.’

On Friday, the Orange looks to continue its game-by-game approach. SU hopes the same approach that’s carried it this far – to the highest ranking in program history – will put the team in position to land its first-ever national championship.

But it all starts with Loyola on Friday.

‘They knocked us out of everything last year, and I think we’re excited to have that opportunity to play them for the regular-season title,’ Gait said.

sebail01@syr.edu

Published on April 26, 2012 at 12:00 pm

Contact Stephen: sebail01@syr.edu | @Stephen_Bailey1