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Saturday was the first time Jaqui Ward saw her daughter play a home game in-person since 11th grade. Emma Ward, a freshman on Syracuse’s women’s lacrosse team, had her senior season of high school canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic, and until Saturday, the Carrier Dome was exclusively open to a limited number of students.

Two minutes into the game against Virginia, with her mom in the front row of the stands, Emma found the top-left corner to open the scoring. Her mom said it was one of the best feelings as a parent — seeing her daughter score right in front of her and once again in replay on the new video board.

“It was kind of surreal. The whole atmosphere in the Dome is kind of fantastic,” Jaqui said. “People were just genuinely happy to be back and support them while they play.”

SU’s announcement on March 30 that the general public could attend games beginning on Saturday was just one more step in the Dome’s gradual process to return fans. SU reopened the renovated Dome on March 6 to student fans as part of a pilot, running trials that required pregame and game-day testing protocols for students throughout the month.

And when the Dome was finally opened to the general public on Saturday, there were 419 fans in attendance for No. 3 Syracuse’s 15-12 comeback win over No. 6 Virginia. Countless players’ parents saw their kids play in-person for the first time in over a year.

Meaghan Tyrrell led the comeback win for Syracuse by scoring the game-tying and game-winning goals, igniting Syracuse’s 10-3 run to top the Cavaliers. On the game-winner, she curled around her defender and faked right before cutting left for the goal. Tyrrell’s parents were there to see it.

“Going from having your parents at games or fans at games to not having them due to COVID, it’s a hard adjustment,” Tyrrell said after the game. “To pull out a comeback like that against a top-10 team in front of them, it’s just such an awesome feeling.”

But unlike the Tyrrells and the Wards, some parents — such as sophomore Bianca Chevarie’s — were unable to make the trip to Syracuse. Don and Anita Chevarie live in Ontario, Canada, which entered a 28-day lockdown on April 8 due to the rising spread of COVID-19.

With the Canadian border still closed, Don and Anita wouldn’t be able to drive to games, a trip they made frequently last season. Don recalls the three and a half hour drives for midweek games, ones where he wouldn’t be home until after midnight.

This season, the Chevaries watch home games through a streaming service that SU provides to families. For away games, Don uses a virtual private network to access the ACC Network or other channels to watch his daughter play.

“We were so happy that there were fans,” Anita said. “Whenever Bianca plays, we always say we’re at home cheering, we have our shirts on screaming and everything. But it’s not the same.”

Saturday wasn’t the first in-person game for Morgan Alexander’s dad, Mike. He and a number of other SU parents traveled to UNC on April 3, but the Virginia game marked his first in the renovated Dome.

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Watching the game in-person meant Mike could pick up on the smaller aspects of the game that get lost through a TV screen, he said. He hasn’t been able to support his daughter in-person since Feb. 24, 2020 against Colgate, something that’s been particularly tough because of Alexander’s multiple serious knee injuries. “It’s frustrating, but understandable,” Mike said of the yearlong wait.

Mike saw the momentum shift from Virginia to Syracuse as the Orange stormed back from a four-goal deficit. He and the other parents in attendance began banging on the bleachers and grew louder as Syracuse cut into the Cavaliers’ lead.

Postgame, families had limited interaction with their daughters due to SU’s COVID-19 regulations. Parents that went to the UNC or Virginia games saw their children masked and six-feet apart, said Sierra Cockerille’s parents, Todd and Kristin.

Todd and Kristin were unable to make the Orange’s home game, but they made the five-hour road trip to the North Carolina game from Baltimore. After SU’s 17-6 loss to UNC, the Cockerilles had 20 minutes with Sierra before traveling five hours back home. Todd said it was hard because he hasn’t been able to interact face-to-face or maskless with the players all season, but that time limit wasn’t surprising because SU doesn’t want to risk having games canceled.

“They kind of committed with each other as a team that they would stay away from the general public to a degree,” Todd said. “(As parents), we just wanted to honor whatever the team wants.”

While parents don’t get the luxury of extended time with their kids postgame as they did previously, many will continue making the trip to the Dome for the rest of this season.

“It is sad because after a game you want to hug them,” Jaqui said. “But I’m so glad we were able to be there, so I’ll take it.”

Published on April 12, 2021 at 10:19 pm

Contact Gaurav: gshetty@syr.edu