Orange attack Kailah Kempney provided a spark inside the draw circle and continued to climb through the Syracuse record book in the process.

The junior attack recorded seven draw controls to lead all players in No. 2 Syracuse’s (3-0, 0-0 Atlantic Coast) 18-6 victory over Canisius (0-1) in Carrier Dome Sunday. She has now eaten up 25 draws through the first three games of the 2014 season.

With her third control of the game, she also moved into second place in program history with 171. Kempney is only 10 behind all-time leader Christina Dove.

“Just our communication,” Kempney said of the Orange’s key to success throughout the game. “We’re all on the same page when we go out to take the draws.”

In total, SU controlled 17 draws to the Golden Griffins’ nine.

After Kelly Cross opened the scoring only five minutes into the game, Kempney began to find a rhythm at midfield. She won the draw, and Kayla Treanor eventually cashed it in for her first goal of the game.

On the ensuing draw, Kempney lobbed the ball to midfielder Katie Webster. Attack Alyssa Murray soon drew a free-position shot. She failed to convert, but Amy Cross backed her up for another goal.

SU then had its roughest stretch of the game inside the circle, losing three of four draws. Head coach Gary Gait said those spurts are just a part of shaking off the rust during the opening weeks of play.

“These games are important, and they mean a lot for improving when we get to the middle of our season,” he said. “You’re going to figure out more as you go, but the good thing is we definitely have some things we can tweak and work on.”

The Orange was still able to build an 8-2 advantage through 26 minutes of play. Then Kempney helped open the floodgates.

She won three draws outright and tipped a fourth out to Lisa Rogers during the final four minutes of the period. Each one led to a Syracuse goal, including two tallies from freshman Taylor Poplawski.

Murray said that SU’s success on draws allowed Poplawski to get free on a couple fast breaks en route to her breakout four-goal outing.

“Taylor does a great job of just getting the self-draws and just shooting it straight up,” Murray said. “It really caught the defense on their heels.”

Kempney was a direct factor on Poplawski’s third tally, as she fed Murray with a beautiful outlet pass downfield. The senior then found Poplawski, who completed her hat trick.

Poplawski added that every victory on the draws built momentum for the offense. She said Kempney’s dominance was key to her blistering run at the end of the first frame.

“Getting the draw, it really gives you the extra push,” Poplawski said.

Kempney was happy with her own performance, but she credited team chemistry for the Orange’s offensive outburst.

“Everyone knows what’s going on, and we really work together,” she said.

Kempney also contributed outside of the midfield circle. She tallied a pair of assists, including one on Poplawski’s fourth goal during the closing seconds of the first half.

The Orange only added five goals in the second frame, but its success on draws continued. Brenna Rainone added a pair, and Webster came away with her second.

Their success, combined with Kempney’s strong outing, left Gait optimistic as the meat of the season begins.

“We can improve on some of the situations we had there, and timing and things like that.” Gait said. “ But our draw controls were solid today.”

Published on February 16, 2014 at 8:35 pm

Contact Tyler: tfpiccot@syr.edu