Syracuse Get Signature, Come From Behind Win Over #7 Blue Devils
After trailing 9-2 at the end of the first quarter, Syracuse women's lacrosse rallied to top Duke 18-16 in the Carrier Dome on Sunday.
How a team responds from their first loss says a lot about them. For Syracuse, they were coming back to the Dome after dropping an overtime heartbreaker to #6 Northwestern. Now, “Dome” field advantage always helps, but it doesn’t mean the schedule gets any easier.
The Orange have only played one non-ranked team this season, and when Duke rolled into town on Sunday, it would be the ‘Cuse’s third top-ten opponent.
Emily Hawryschuk put Syracuse on the board first, but after that, it looked like the Orange never got off the bus when returning from Chicago.
The Duke offense was CLICKING, scoring eight unanswered in the first quarter alone. They were winning draws, burning past the Orange with speed, and finding the perfect shots. They couldn’t miss. Coach Treanor had to call a timeout, and it was starting to get ugly.
“We just had a tough first quarter, and Duke played great in that quarter, but we started to get on a roll in the second quarter,” Treanor said.
In the second quarter, Syracuse woke up. Megan Carney got on the board for the Orange with just under 14 to go in the half, and they started to ride some momentum.
They cut it to 10-7 and were playing some serious catch up, but the Blue Devils seemed pretty calm.
As Syracuse scored with 18 seconds to go in the 2nd, it looked like they’d really stolen the flow of the game at the perfect time. Then Maddie Jenner, who was great for Duke all game, ran 45 yards off the draw and scored with four seconds left. You could literally feel the energy in the Dome deflate, but it didn’t change how Coach approached her players at half.
“It’s something we definitely need to focus on. We talk about (giving up the late goal) in film, but I don’t think it allowed the girls to be defeated. We just had to re-focus and get ready for the second half.”
So, the Orange were down 12-8 heading into the locker room. Even with the Jenner goal, there were still things they could build on. It wasn’t a seven-goal Duke lead, it was only four. Which, in lacrosse, can change at the snap of a finger. There was only one thing missing from this game though…
Meaghan Tyrrell.
The best way I can describe it was Duke was running the lacrosse equivalent to a basketball Box-And-1. Someone on the Blue Devil defense was just shadowing Tyrrell the entire first half, and she hardly had an opportunity, but the second half was totally different.
Tyrrell came out blazing, scoring back-to-back goals less than a minute apart to open the third quarter.
“I think it was more so just executing the game plan of what we’ve been practicing all week. Throughout the first half it wasn’t working for me, but it was just a mental shift and doing that,” Carney said.
You could say it served her confidence for the rest of the game. It’s pretty plain to see how the Orange are at their best when Tyrrell, and Megan Carney, who each had five goals today, are scoring.
“Once we were getting into a groove, Duke was sending their defense early for second slides. Being able to draw that attention was what we wanted,” Tyrrell said.
It forces multiple defenders to collapse onto them, which opens up opportunities for other teammates. Outside of Tyrrell and Carney, five players got on the board, three of which had multi-goal games.
“To have seven different goal-scorers is huge for our team. To have that depth and confidence in everyone is awesome,” Carney said.
Every stick throw, every scream, and every celebration just gave the Orange a little more juice to work with. Even on the defense.
Kimber Hower had her first collegiate start in net today (talk about pressure), but even after the #7 team in the nation put up nine on her in the first, she was never rattled.
“I was calm in the first quarter. I knew we would figure it out. It speaks volumes about what this team does.”
Hower had eight saves on the day, one of those being the most important of the day when Cat Berry fired a shot with under two minutes to go, and she was able to deflect it off the right post.
“We let up a pretty easy goal to end the half, so I wanted to step up and avoid that. My defense worked really hard, so it was my job to do that for them.”
Seconds after the save, Syracuse charged down the field, and Sam Swart scored the goal that would be the nail in the coffin. Just like that, the Orange complete the near-impossible comeback, and move to 5-1 on the year.
“Today was an amazing win for us; I’m incredibly proud of our team. That took a lot of heart, and I think it shows that they’re a special team,” Treanor said.
Syracuse are back on the road for their next game, as they head to Virginia to take on the Cavaliers this Saturday. First draw is at noon.
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