Michelle Tumolo is fully aware the season is on the line. Any loss for the Syracuse women’s lacrosse team would strike a major blow in its efforts to return to the NCAA tournament.

‘Every game is a playoff game,’ the sophomore attack Tumolo said Wednesday. ‘We literally cannot lose any more games.’

As the Orange (5-7, 3-1 Big East) heads into the stretch run of its season, the team has a slim margin of error. A tough opening schedule left the Orange in an under-.500 hole it hasn’t overcome. Starting with Thursday’s game against Louisville (10-4, 3-2) at 5 p.m. in the Carrier Dome, every game, especially Big East ones, are near must-wins.

Louisville is a half-game behind SU in the conference standings, so a loss to the Cardinals would severely dash the Orange’s hopes at making the tournament. Right now, SU is placing a lot of importance on its Big East record. Even with a disappointing nonconference performance, a top-four conference record would get the team in the Big East tournament, where it could win two games and be in the NCAA tournament.

Easier said than done. With its final five games coming in the next 11 days, the Orange has a lot of work to do. But SU head coach Gary Gait isn’t counting his players out just yet.

‘Deep down, we believe we can beat anybody if we ever put it all together,’ Gait said. ‘And that’s kind of our philosophy at the end now. It’s the time to step up and play great lacrosse instead of average lacrosse.’

Four of those final five games come against Big East opponents. If the Orange loses even one of those games, making the tournament will be difficult.

Before last Saturday’s 12-8 loss to No. 17 Georgetown, SU was undefeated in the Big East. And for a while, it looked like that streak might continue. But up 8-5, SU gave up seven consecutive goals in the second half to eventually fall to the Hoyas.

Each loss brings Syracuse closer to the end of its season.

‘Based on our other games that we dropped earlier in the season, we have to win those Big East games,’ midfielder Catherine Rodriguez said. ‘It’s (like) playoff games, so every Big East game is a must-win game.’

The possibility of not making the NCAA tournament is a stark contrast to last year, when SU advanced to the final four.

But this year, it has faced the toughest schedule in the nation, according to LaxPower.com. All of those tough games it scheduled against ranked opponents ended in losses.

But as the tough nonconference schedule ended, so did those losses. Minus the loss to Georgetown, SU has had success in Big East play. That is something it hopes will continue against Louisville and every other team it faces as the season nears the end.

‘We’re just really looking to stay strong in the Big East,’ Rodriguez said. ‘We can definitely still make a push for the Big East and try to get a bid into the NCAA tournament.’

Gait has similar thoughts as Rodriguez. The team that wins the Big East tournament gets the conference’s automatic NCAA tournament bid. That is the only guarantee for the Orange at this point, Gait said.

‘We need to finish strong in the rest of the Big East games,’ Gait said. ‘We have to make sure we get in that tournament.

‘And once you’re in that tournament, you win two games, you’re in the NCAA tournament. So that’s kind of the approach we’re looking at now.’

Tumolo said the team has been worried the whole season about the Big East because that is SU’s ticket into the tournament. Now she and the team can only hope every game left on the schedule ends in a win.

‘We just really need to win the games no matter what,’ Tumolo said. ‘Basically our record needs to be nearly perfect.’

rnmarcus@syr.edu

Published on April 20, 2011 at 12:00 pm

Contact Rachel: rnmarcus@syr.edu