Minutes after blowing out Cornell, Syracuse’s contingent sat at the postgame press conference, subdued. The victory was overshadowed by the injury of one of the Orange’s best players.

No. 5 Syracuse (10-3, 5-0 Big East) defeated Cornell (7-5, 3-3 Ivy) 16-4 in front of 331 in the Carrier Dome on Tuesday, but the injury of team captain and star player Michelle Tumolo was on her teammates’ minds.

At the 18:38 mark of the first half, Tumolo went down around the 40-yard line near the SU bench. Play was stopped and Tumolo was down for about two minutes. The SU attack did not return to the game, and afterward was seen walking off of the field with a brace on her left knee using crutches, forcing freshman attack Kayla Treanor to step up in her absence.

SU head coach Gary Gait said Tumolo’s status is unknown.

“We’ll know more in the days to come,” he said. “We’ll get her looked at and find out what’s going on. I really haven’t talked about it to anybody yet.

“… You never want to lose anybody and you’ve got to believe they’re OK. And at this point, I do.”

Treanor filled Tumolo’s void on the right side of the offense. Treanor, the team’s second leading goal-scorer, is familiar with the position. With Tumolo suspended for the team’s season-opener against Jacksonville, Treanor scored five goals from the right side on Jan. 13.

“It’s really upsetting when a player goes down, especially a player like Michelle,” Treanor said. “But you’ve got to keep playing the game. There’s still time left on the clock.”

On Tuesday, Treanor rose to the occasion, scoring once before and three times after Tumolo left the game. A natural righty, Treanor played left-handed on Tuesday.

“Again, she steps up. (Treanor) plays just as well lefty as she does righty,” Gait said. “Just had to call on her a little bit more than we would have with Michelle in the game. The pressure was on and she handled it pretty well and had lots of good opportunities.”

SU’s offense flowed through Treanor and Devon Collins behind the cage. Collins played more directly behind the net, as opposed to her normal position on the left or atop the Syracuse offense. Treanor and Collins looked to create scoring opportunities for Kailah Kempney, Alyssa Murray and Katie Webster.

Collins and Kempney, who each scored two goals on the day, were also active with Tumolo out. Collins also had five shots, an assist, caused a turnover and drew a foul. Kempney had four shots and three assists.

With the Orange leading 4-0, Murray found Kempney on the right side of the net, who then passed across to Collins on the front-left doorstep. Collins scored to extend the lead to 5-0.

“Devon played great,” Gait said. “… She got a little bit more time today and put the ball away and did a great job stepping in, playing down low. She played that position last year and was very comfortable going back to it, so we feel good about her there.”

With the Orange up 5-2, Treanor threw a pass from behind the net to Collins, who was stopped from point-blank range. Moments later, Murray found Kempney, who had a clear path to the net. But Kempney’s shot was stopped.

With just less than eight minutes left in the first half, Treanor had the ball in front of the cage on the right side. Looking left, she protected the ball with her back and spun right toward the goal. She beat the goaltender and extended the lead to 6-2.

On a quick turnover, Kempney ran down the field and found Treanor cutting down the seam for a goal, bringing the score to 7-2. Treanor also had a scoring chance before halftime, but her shot hit the post.

Two-plus minutes into the second half, Collins passed to a cutting Amy Cross from behind the net for SU’s 11th goal.

Erica Bodt, Linley Block and Kirkland Locey also scored goals in the second half as the Orange rode through the blowout despite Tumolo’s injury. But in the final stretch of the season before the Big East and NCAA tournaments, how much time Tumolo misses is a major concern.

At the end of the game, Becca Block walked off of the field with Tumolo and Loren Ziegler.

Said Block: “I guess we’re all trying to stay positive and hope for the best.”

Published on April 17, 2013 at 12:38 am

Contact Josh: jmhyber@syr.edu