Clu is back with another edition of the Salt City Weekly. What happened in Cuse this week?

As the title says, this week we’re talking about the very exciting weekend that was for Syracuse athletics. We had a couple of nail-biters in the realm of Syracuse sports, including a come from behind win in Missouri for the Orange football team this past saturday! Of course, thats not the only come from behind win that we have to talk about. So don’t go anywhere, because we are going to break down the who’s who of Syracuse Athletics this week.

Syracuse Mens Soccer Stuns VCU in OT to Advance to Sweet 16

Yes everyone you read that correctly! Syracuse University Mens soccer team (12-6, 5-3 in Big East) is running wild through the NCAA tournament so far. Earlier in the week the Orange beat #11 Cornell in Ithaca for the first NCAA tourney win in the programs history 1-0, then they had to travel to Virginia and faced a very tough VCU team. The game was deadlocked in a 2-2 tie already into the 2nd OT when Senior Forward Louis Clark scored the golden goal with just over 2 minutes to go, and the Orange shocked the Rams. The winning goal completed a comeback that saw the Orange erase a 2-0 lead, to beat VCU. So whats next for the Orange? They now must head to our nation’s capital to take on the #3 Georgetown Hoyas on Sunday, November 25th at 1 PM. Good luck Cuse!

SU Hoops Takes Care of Business In the Home Opener

So, in the first game of the season at the Carrier Dome, the 8th ranked Orange faced the Wagner Seahawks out of the Northeast Conference, and right from the start you saw why many people are talking about the Orange as national title contenders. Both Michael Carter-Williams and Brandon Triche led SU from the post. Triche scored a game high 21 points and added 7 rebounds, while MCW chipped in with a career high 11 assists. After what seemed to be a “pedestrian” start to the first half, Syracuse (2-0) fired on all cylinders in the second-half. The Orange dominated Wagner in all aspects of the game. They shot 32 of 64, where as Wagner was only 20 for 61 from the field. They also out-rebounded Wagner 49-36 and, to pour salt on the wound, the Orange cashed by scoring 29 points on 23 Wagner turnovers. It’s kind of hard to win against this Syracuse team when you put up those numbers. Syracuse has won 23 straight at home and have also won 34 straight against non-conference opponents. Next up for the Orange is Ivy league powerhouse Princeton University, as the Tigers head to Syracuse to do battle Wednesday at 7. Then on Sunday, the Orange will face the Red Raiders of Colgate University to finish out the week.

Women’s Field Hockey Loses to UNC in the Final Four

This is a follow up to last weeks post in which I covered the Lady Orange’s historic trip to the NCAA Final Four for women’s field hockey. Unfortunately, the Orange couldn’t manage to match up with the #1 seeded North Carolina Tar Heels, as they fell 6-1 in the national semi-finals. The only goal the Orange scored came early by Midfielder Leonie Geyer, who scored on the Orange’s first penalty corner opportunity. The goal was the Geyer’s 12th of the year. After that, the Tar Heels took over and just dominated the rest of the way, as they scored 6 unanswered goals to seal the win. The Orange just made their second ever Final Four appearance in program history and they finish the 2012 season tied for the second most wins in the history of the program (19). Good job on a great 2012 campaign, Cuse! Hopefully you can build off of this success and keep it going for the 2013 season.

SU Football Is Goin Bowlin’ After a Come From Behind Win at Missouri

Again, what is with these bag of Oranges huh? After rolling off a huge upset win at the dome on senior day over #11 Louisville, the Orange traveled to Columbia, MO. They headed deep into hostile territory to take on a tough Missouri Tigers team also looking to get a win and become bowl eligible. Missouri (5-6) got off to a fast start and took an early lead with a 70 yard strike from QB James Franklin (17 of 23, 279 yards). The Orange battled all game and kept the game close as they waited for their chance to take the control of the game.

QB Ryan Nassib threw for 385 yards and two TDs, setting a new all time career record for yards passing at Syracuse (8,845 yards and counting). Nassib only needed 6 yards to break the previous record set by Marvin Graves (Syracuse QB from 1990-93). Out of those 385 yards, senior WR Alec Lemon was responsible for 244, as he hauled down 12 passes and both of Nassib’s TDs. Running backs Jermone Smith and Tyson Prince-Gulley, meanwhile, both chipped in with a few rushing TDs of their own. Lemon and Nassib capped a 21-point fourth quarter as Syracuse spoiled Missouri’s home finale with a 31-27 upset. The Orange scored the winning touchdown on a 15 yard pass from Nassib to a wide open Lemon with 20 seconds left in the game ( here’s the video if you want to check it out). In another note, Alec Lemon, Ryan Nassib and DT Jay Bromley were all named to the Big East weekly Honor Roll for their performances in the Orange’s exciting win over Mizzou. Bromley was voted in because of his 6 tackles (4 solo) and two sacks against the Tigers. We all know why Lemon and Nassib were nominated.

Syracuse has now become bowl eligible for the second time in three years. This has all Syracuse fans, coaches and players excited because that is something that hasn’t happened since 1999 and 2001. The Orange (6-5, 4-2) now look to finish the season over .500 when they head to Philadelphia for the season finale to face the recently re-instated Temple Owls on Black Friday at 11AM. (really? 11 in the morning on Black Friday? Whose bright idea was this?!?). Anywho, the reason I say re-instated for Temple is because way back in 2004, the Big East conference succeeded at expelling the Temple Owls from the conference due to a poor fan base and lack of competitiveness (they had gone 0-11 in their last season in the Big East). Temple managed to do some soul searching while playing in the MAAC conference and was re-instated following a few winning seasons. Now, in an ironic turn of events, as Temple comes back to the Big East, ‘Cuse will be leaving! This will be SU’s last game as a member of the Big East conference, because they moving to the ACC to start the 2013 season.

I would like to end this post by wishing all my readers and everyone who contributes to Jobu’s Rum a very Happy Thanksgiving. Feast, be thankful for what you have and never settle for anything less than what you are capable of.