April 27, 2008
by Eric Hansen, Special to Lacrosse Magazine Online
SOUTH BEND, Ind. - Katie Rowan remembers the day early on in high school when her hoops dreams shifted to lacrosse, and having to explain to her mom just what that entailed.
"My mom really didn't know anything about the sport," said the Syracuse University standout, who went on to play four years of high school basketball anyway. "I had to do a lot of teaching her about what was going on."
No explanation was needed Sunday, when the top-seeded Orange rallied past Georgetown, 12-6, in the Big East tournament championship at Notre Dame Stadium. Rowan was right in the middle of an 8-0 run that rescued Syracuse from a 4-2 deficit early in the second half.
The nation's leader in points per game scored three goals during the decisive spurt, including the tying and go-ahead tallies. Her third goal, which made it 8-4, tied her for the school career record in goals with Leigh Ann Zimmer at 171. Rowan, a 5-foot-10 junior from Delmar, N.Y., was already Syracuse's career leader in points (265) and assists (94).
Rowan, who amassed 10 points in Friday's nights 22-7 tourney semifinal rout of Rutgers, was named the tournament's most outstanding player.
"I'm not sure there's just one thing that makes her so good," marveled Georgetown coach Ricky Fried. "She's a pretty good-sized kid that can get up and down. She's got a good stick, finishes very well, and I think she's really confident. I think the big thing is she carries the ball well, and she doesn't get too flustered."
Rowan and the rest of the fifth-ranked Orange (16-2) had plenty of chances to get flustered Sunday. Georgetown (11-6) had rallied from a 9-2 deficit against host and second-seeded Notre Dame Friday night for a 15-14, triple-overtime victory and rolled into the first half of Sunday's game with plenty of momentum.
Sophomore Allie Hubschmann scored for the Hoyas 3:34 into the contest, just the fourth time this season that Syracuse didn't score first, but the second time it had happened in the tournament. It was 3-0 Georgetown before senior Kristin Brady finally broke through unassisted 17:34 into the first half. That was the longest that the nation's highest-scoring team had gone scoreless to start a game this season by more than eight minutes.
The Orange (16-2) trailed 3-2 at the half, their puniest offensive output in a half of the year, then fell behind 4-2 1:24 into the second half. Awehiyo Thomas' free-position goal 40 seconds later closed the gap to one before Rowan tied it 3:40 into the second half on an assist from Christina Dove.
Rowan's go-ahead goal was a free-position goal, and it came 10:32 into the final period. Thomas also scored three goals for Syracuse and added an assist.
"We just needed to relax," said first-year Syracuse head coach Gary Gait, whose team rolls into the NCAA tournament sporting a nine-game winning streak. "I'm happy we gutted the game out. We played smart and we didn't panic."
"Our defense played awesome in the first half and, really, the whole game," Rowan said. They really kept us in the game in the first half. We refocused at halftime and changed some things up and were able to get some more goals."
As dominant as Rowan has been this season, it's been balance, Gait said, that has helped produce her video game-esque numbers.
"That's the key to everybody's success, the depth we have on offense," he said. "It's a lot different game when you only have one or two players, and you can double them all day long."
And it's a different game for Rowan with Syracuse men's lacrosse legend Gait as her coach.
"When we heard he was going to be the new coach, we were all very excited," Rowan said. "It was an adjustment, because he has his own style, but an easy adjustment. He's very laid-back, not a yeller at all. And he likes us to take risks and be creative. I think that's brought out the best in all of us. It's given us the confidence that we can play with anyone in the country."
Big East All-Tournament Team
Katie Rowan, Jr., Syracuse; Kristin Brady, Sr., Syracuse; Christina Dove, So., Syracuse; Christina Gibson, Sr., Syracuse; Liz Hogan, Fr., Syracuse; Jordy Kirr, Fr., Georgetown; Molly Ford, So., Georgetown; Ashby Kaestner, So., Georgetown; Bridget Noon, Jr., Georgetown; Shaylyn Blaney, Fr., Notre Dame; Caitlin McKinney, Sr. Notre Dame; Brooke Cantwell, So., Rutgers.
Most Outstanding Player: Rowan.
