Syracuse Dominates Florida in 2nd Half, Advances to Final Four
Syracuse scored five straight goals in the first to start the second half and cruised the rest of the way as the Orange topped Florida 17-11 to advance to its eighth Final Four in program history (first since 2016). With the win, the Gators 15 game winning streak was snapped. Syracuse will face undefeated Northwestern, the two seed, in the Final Four on Friday, May 28th.
The Gators scored two straight at the end of the first half to tie the game at five heading into the locker room. That momentum was short lived as the Orange stormed out of the locker room with five consecutive goals.
Florida made a mini-run late in the second half. With Syracuse leading 13-8, the Gators scored two straight to trim the lead to three. The Orange answered with two goals over the next few minutes to push the lead back to five and end any serious threat.
Freshman Emma Ward was the star of the afternoon, scoring a career high six goals to lead the Orange attack. Saw Swart, Meaghan Tyrrell, Emma Tyrrell, and Jenny Markey were among the other Syracuse players who scored as well. The Tyrrell sisters each recorded a hat trick for Syracuse.
But this day belonged to Ward. Her cannon shot along with pin-point accuracy was on full display, and she did it against the nation's leader in goals against average and save percentage in Florida goalie Sarah Reznick.
Reznick came in allowing less than six goals per game. Ward had six by herself.
The game was not played in the Carrier Dome due to commencement. Instead, it took place at SU's Soccer Stadium. The teams had to adjust to playing on grass rather than Dome turf.
Florida got the scoring started with a goal just 20 seconds in off of the draw control. Syracuse answered with two straight after that. While Florida would tie up on two occasions after that, the Orange would not trail the rest of the way after falling behind 1-0.