Syracuse leading scorer Murray held to one goal

West Babylon's Alyssa Murray had a disappointing performance in Sunday night's NCAA women's lacrosse national championship game. The Syracuse sophomore finished the season with the most points (105) in the country but was held to one goal as No. 4 Syracuse lost to No. 2 Northwestern, 8-6, at Stony Brook University's LaValle Stadium.

Murray was kept in check by another Long Islander, Northwestern's Lacey Vigmostad (Northport).

Murray had four shots and finished the season second on Syracuse's single-season goal scoring list with 74.

"They had the ball a lot, so when we got the ball, it was a lot of pushing toward the net and we may have not had the best opportunities that we could have found," Murray said. "I give a lot of credit to them, they had a great game and they had a really great game plan. Lacey's a great defender and she had a great year."

West Islip's Alyssa Costantino made eight saves for the Orange (19-4) in a terrific bounce-back performance after a disappointing showing in the first half against No. 1 Florida in the national semifinals Friday night. Costantino made several stops on Northwestern free positions in the second half to keep Syracuse in it.

"After Friday's game, I was really motivated to play well not only for myself but my team and everyone else," Costantino said. "I felt a lot different this game."

Murray first-team All-American. Murray was named a first-team All-American by the coaches association. Other first-team All-Americans in the game included Syracuse teammates Becca Block and Michelle Tumolo and Northwestern's Shannon Smith (West Babylon) and Taylor Thornton. The other Long Islander named to the first team was Garden City's Becky Lynch (North Carolina). Northwestern's Erin Fitzgerald (Mount Sinai) was named a second-team All-American. Boston University's Danielle Etrasco (Massapequa) and Stony Brook's Claire Petersen (Wantagh) were named third-team All-Americans.