Syracuse didn’t have much time to think about its dramatic overtime loss to Northwestern on Wednesday. The Orange had less than 12 hours from the moment the final whistle blew until the time it had to board its flight to Gainesville, Fla., the next morning.

But SU wouldn’t have it any other way.

‘It’s our third game, and they’re the best in the country, No. 1, and we were up by four at one time,’ Syracuse attack Michelle Tumolo said. ‘We were out to fight. We only go on from here. We play (No. 5) Florida next, so we know we have big games coming up, so we can’t dwell on this.’

Syracuse (1-2, 0-0 Big East) led the No. 1 Wildcats 6-3 at halftime Wednesday before falling 11-9 in overtime, but Syracuse’s first-half success gave the team a formula to be successful against anyone. That starts with an attempt to rebound against the No. 5 Gators (4-1, 0-0 American Lacrosse Conference). The No. 11 Orange takes on Florida in Gainesville on Saturday at 1 p.m.

The matchup with the Gators will be the first game in a stretch of two more contests against ranked teams in Monday’s deBeer Women’s Media Poll. And that stretch will give the Orange the chance to continue learning and growing just as it did Wednesday against Northwestern.

All four of the Gators’ wins have come from beating unranked foes Jacksonville, Maryland-Baltimore County, Siena and Detroit. Jacksonville is the only team with a winning record, and both Siena and Detroit are winless. In Florida’s only test against a ranked opponent, the Gators fell 11-9 to No. 2 North Carolina in Chapel Hill, N.C.

Meanwhile, the Orange has yet to play an opponent ranked lower than No. 8 and just forced the nation’s top-ranked team — a team that hadn’t won a game by fewer than eight goals all season — into overtime.

‘I think it built a lot of confidence for us,’ SU midfielder Katie Webster said. ‘We know we can play them, play with them, and I think we can beat them in the future. So I think we can play with Florida, Maryland, anyone.’

And the first half is what inspired that confidence. Syracuse jumped out to a 6-2 lead by making plays that were to be expected from Northwestern.

Already holding a 3-1 lead, Becca Block carried the ball up the field. The SU defender flipped the ball back to Tumolo, who was running away from the net. Tumolo then made a perfect pass fading away from the net to Webster.

The SU midfielder then bounced the ball between NU goaltender Brianne LoManto’s legs for the goal.

Plays like that left NU head coach Kelly Amonte Hiller impressed after the game.

‘I think Syracuse is a great team,’ Amonte Hiller said. ‘They’ve got weapons all over the field.’

But perhaps the Orange can learn even more from the end of that game. After allowing seven straight goals and being held scoreless for nearly 25 minutes, SU scored three goals in the final 4:16 of regulation to force overtime.

SU head coach Gary Gait said that’s a difference between this year and last year for the Orange. This group takes advantage of opportunities the 2011 squad failed to en route to a mediocre 10-8 record.

‘I think it’s a step for this team,’ Gait said. ‘… We have the potential to take this team to the next level. I think we’re just growing, we’re still pretty young, but we have some senior leadership, and we’ve got a great mix of classes, and I think we’ll get better as the season goes on.’

The Orange didn’t beat a ranked team last season until April 29 when it beat No. 6 Loyola 10-9 in the second-to-last game of the regular season.

This year, Syracuse has already knocked off a ranked team and has given a pair of top-10 teams serious scares, too. With that resume already under its belt, the Orange is prepared for the tough road that starts with Florida.

‘I think we can play with anyone,’ Webster said. ‘We play Florida on Saturday, so we’ll see how we do with them.’

dbwilson@syr.edu