Forward Leonie Geyer used three penalty strokes to record a hat trick and lead No. 5 Syracuse to a 4-1 victory against No. 4 Virginia in its first Atlantic Coast Conference home game on Saturday.

But on Sunday, it was an understudy that headlined the show.

After entering the game for Geyer early in the first half, freshman Karlee Farr netted a hat trick of her own as the Orange (10-1, 1-1 Atlantic Coast) romped Monmouth (3-7) 8-1 in front of 233 fans at J.S. Coyne Stadium. Farr scored three of the team’s first five goals after logging only one in SU’s first 10 games. Syracuse has now won 41-straight on its home turf.

“It feels great that we were all able to execute today,” Farr said. “I got some really great passes from my teammates, so my goals couldn’t have happened without them.”

The game was scoreless early in the first half when Geyer left the field, after being hit in the hand by an errant Monmouth pass. Farr took her place and gave the Orange a 1-0 lead minutes later.

“Creating options off of the goalie was key,” Farr said. “The first was a two-on-one with me and Emma (Russell), so being able to move the goalie and open the goal with someone else always helps.”

The Hawks were able to hold off Syracuse for the next 13 minutes, but then the floodgates opened.

Geyer returned to the game and launched a rocketing shot on a penalty corner. Russell was ready at the left post for a tip-in tally to put the Orange ahead by two.

Four minutes later, Geyer didn’t need any help as she fired a laser beam past Monmouth goalie Amanda Westerweller to give Syracuse a 3-0 lead.

The lead grew to 4-0 after Farr tipped in another Geyer pass with 43 seconds before the half for her second goal of the game.

In addition to outscoring the Hawks, the Orange outshot them 14-1 in the first half.

“We took our shock attack mentality and we really played the Syracuse way today,” forward Sarah Kerly said. “No number of goals is enough goals, so we really did ourselves proud out there.”

Farr’s third goal put the game further out of reach less than three minutes into the second half. Geyer sprung her loose on a breakaway with a well-struck lead pass and she zipped it past Westerweller to make the score 5-0.

But the Orange kept pouring it on. Kerly’s first goal since Sept. 8 increased the advantage to six, and she later scored again on a penalty corner, although she didn’t realize it at first.

“I literally didn’t see anything,” Kerly said. “Jordan Page hit it across. It hit my stick and I heard the backboard, and I just couldn’t believe it went in.”

Monmouth’s only goal came from Melanie Dawson, who threw a shot on net that hit Orange back Anna Crumb and bounced past a helpless Jess Jecko.

Liz Sack scored her first goal of the season with nine minutes remaining to end Syracuse’s offensive outburst.

Ironically enough, the last time the Orange scored eight goals in a game was last year in another 8-1 victory over the Hawks.

Head coach Ange Bradley was pleased with the team’s energy level after less than 24 hours of rest.

“We are always a team that’s fit, and we take a lot of pride and ownership in that,” Bradley said. “Whether we’re in season or out of season, that’s something that we all have the ability to control.”

They’ll need that stamina for this weekend’s doubleheader, which features a Friday showdown at No. 7 Duke and a home match against New Hampshire on Sunday.

Even after Sunday’s performance, Bradley said she is hoping for the team’s communication to improve prior to the long trip to Durham, N.C.

“They’re not very talkative and they just seem to get it done. I don’t know,” she said. “We have to regroup. They’ll get a day off tomorrow and we’ll leave on Thursday.”

Published on October 7, 2013 at 12:07 am

Contact Tyler: tfpiccot@syr.edu