Michelle Tumolo sat between teammates Kailah Kempney and Katie Webster at the press conference following Syracuse’s 17-16 win over North Carolina last Saturday.
The Orange had just clinched a spot in the final four.
With one arm wrapped around each underclassman, Tumolo reflected upon her memories playing on that stage as a freshman in Towson, Md.
‘These guys haven’t gotten to feel that, but I literally was not going to come out of that game without them having that feeling,’ Tumolo said, ‘because when I was a freshman, it was a great feeling for me to have for the next three years.’
Kempney, Webster and the underclassmen will experience that feeling for the first time this Friday, while Tumolo and the upperclassmen – who fell to No. 1 seed Maryland in the 2010 national semifinals – will seek redemption. Syracuse continues its run through the NCAA tournament Friday when the fourth-seeded Orange (18-3) takes on No. 1 seed Florida (19-2) at 5:30 p.m. in Stony Brook.
While SU routed Dartmouth 15-5 in the opening round, a return trip to the final four for the Orange was in doubt heading into the final minutes of its quarterfinal matchup with No. 5 seed North Carolina.
SU trailed the Tar Heels by two goals with three minutes remaining, but Tumolo recorded two goals, an assist and a forced turnover in the game’s final minutes to help Syracuse earn the victory.
‘We’re extremely excited to get back to the final four,’ SU head coach Gary Gait said. ‘It’s what we work for every year, to have this opportunity to play for a championship.’
With victories over final four teams Florida and Maryland, and an overtime loss to Northwestern – the fourth team competing for the national title – the Orange is prepared for the big-game experience this weekend.
Syracuse beat Florida 12-11 in double overtime on March 3 in Gainesville, Fla., despite playing without Kempney, an offensive cog and one of the team’s two draw specialists.
Gait said Friday’s rematch with UF is a ‘new game,’ and that both teams stepping onto the field Friday are not the same ones who faced off 10 weeks ago. The majority of the Gators’ contributors are juniors who have been playing together for three years, and Gait said that experience shows on the field.
‘They’re going to be very strong, very composed because of that experience and that chemistry, but hopefully we’ll execute and we’ll play well,’ Gait said.
Still, he admitted his team is confident heading into a matchup with a Florida team it already defeated this year.
Webster, who recorded the sudden-death score to beat the Gators in the regular-season matchup, and her teammates feel the same way.
‘I guess since we won in sudden overtime and I had the winning goal, I think we can do it again, and we don’t have to go into overtime this time,’ Webster said
A win against Florida would send SU to the national championship for the first time in program history, and peg the Orange against the winner of the game between Maryland and Northwestern.
But for now, SU is focused solely on defeating Florida.
‘We all know that Florida is going to come out hard for revenge so we’ve got to be ready for that,’ Webster said. ‘They’re a very fast team so we’ve got to be on our best game, just stay with them and try to do our best.’
The players are buzzing with a chance to compete in the final four. The underclassmen, including sophomore and leading goal scorer Alyssa Murray, couldn’t be more excited.
And they will soon know the emotions Tumolo felt as a freshman.
‘I’ve been to several final fours to watch when I was younger,’ Murray said. ‘You always dream about it and say ‘Wow that would be really cool,’ but now that we’re actually there it’s just amazing. It’s a dream come true.’
sebail01@syr.edu