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It looked like Syracuse was going to head into the second quarter up 5-0 until Pitt midfielder Emily Coughlin grabbed a lateral pass from her teammates with under a minute left in the period. Coughlin ran up the seam towards the goal, veering to her right and putting one past Delaney Sweitzer.

The Orange were visibly bothered by that goal, and Kate Mashewske wasted no time on the ensuing draw. She flung it up in the air to herself and found Megan Carney already lurking at the top of the 8-meter. She threw it up to her and Carney jumped for it, muscling through contact, before retrieving it mid air. She then completely spun around and almost immediately whipped it past her former Pitt goalie Hannah Van Middelem. The Orange had scored just eight seconds after Pitt ended their shutout. 

Syracuse (4-0, 1-0 Atlantic Coast) defeated Pitt (2-2, 0-1 Atlantic Coast) 16-4 in its first conference game of the season to move to 4-0 on the year. The Orange jumped out to an early lead after going up 3-0 in the first two minutes of the contest. The Panthers got the score within four early in the second period, but Syracuse responded by scoring seven unanswered goals and pulled away. Megan Carney and Emma Tyrrell spearheaded the Syracuse win, combining for seven goals. But the wealth was spread around, as 12 different Orange players recorded a point.

Although the Syracuse offense posted another dominant performance, the defense performed just as well. The Orange allowed the fewest goals in a game all year on Saturday afternoon. Their previous low was 10 to Binghamton, which pales in comparison to Pitt’s four goals today. Pitt also only put 10 shots on goal.

Last week’s ACC Defensive Player of the Week, Sweitzer, was on her game again. Seven minutes into the first frame, she faced a free-position shot. Pitt attacker Sydney Naylor set up left of the goal and exploded off the whistle, sending a powerful shot at Sweitzer’s left shoulder. With a split second to react, Sweitzer shrugged towards the ball and made the stop.

Less than a minute into the second quarter, the Panthers midfielder Talia Zuco scored on a free-position chance to shave the lead down to 6-2.  But once again, the Orange quickly answered the Pitt goal. Midfielder Sierra Cockerille settled in behind the net after Syracuse worked in the Panthers zone for a while.

She waited with the ball in her hand as the Pitt defense expected a pass over the net to set up a goal. The Panthers shifted up toward Orange players at the top of the attack zone, leaving a 1-on-1 match up and plenty of space for Cockerille near the goal. She wrapped around the right side of the goal and just barely beat the Pitt defender. Then, Cockerille ripped a shot sidearm past the right hip of Van Middelem for the goal.

Syracuse continued to operate behind the net for much of this game, mostly with Emma Ward. The junior attacker was involved in three goals where she either assisted or scored while utilizing the position from behind the net.

Halfway through the second period, Ward received a pass behind the left side of the net. She took a few steps around the back of the goal and launched an impeccable pass to Carney who was cutting up towards the goal on the same side. The pass came at the perfect time and landed in the perfect place. Carney used it to put it over Van Middelem’s left shoulder in close quarters to extend the lead 10-2.

Just a few minutes later, Ward was hanging around the back of the net again as Syracuse set up its attack. Maddy Baxter possessed the ball as she moved across to the right of the attack zone. But as she ran, she saw the defense shift up towards her and a gap opened up right next to the goal. Ward saw it and sprung up from the right side of the goal, Baxter found her, and she turned and ran to her left before rocketing one through to put the Orange up 11-2.

Another Ward goal a minute later gave Syracuse a 10-point lead, which accelerated the clock. This had the Orange up 12-2 going into halftime. Syracuse began to pull starters as the second half got underway. This didn’t stop Baxter from finding the back of the net not even five minutes into the third quarter.

Although Naylor scored again soon after Baxter to give Pitt its third goal, the Orange held the Panthers off for the most part throughout the second half. But, Syracuse’s offense didn’t come to a halt. Cockerille scored a rare coast-to-coast goal after she scooped up a ground ball on a turnover with a little over a minute left in the third period, swelling the insurmountable lead to 14-3.

Baxter and Markey tacked on two more goals in the final period. Markey has now scored in two consecutive games for the first time all season. Naylor ended up completing her hat trick with a minute left in the game.

Published on February 25, 2023 at 2:17 pm

Contact Matthew: mahassan@syr.edu