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Maddy Baxter leapt up to cause a turnover with just over 20 seconds left in the half and blazed down the length of the field. Once she reached the 12-meter peak, she dumped off to Ward on her right who juked inside, and, with 2.2 seconds remaining, scored over a VT defender to give Syracuse a 6-5 lead entering the half.

On Wednesday, Syracuse started slow, and the sluggishness persisted until the second half. After pummeling Virginia Tech 16-5 in the regular season, the Hokies (10-8, 3-6 ACC) stayed with Syracuse (16-1, 8-1 ACC) in the second-round matchup, but eventually fell 14-11. SU advanced to the semifinals of the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament, where they will play UNC on Friday.

Syracuse faced an early 1-0 deficit when Delaney Sweitzer made a huge save. VT’s Ella Rishko received a pass in the middle of the zone and sent a hard shot off the turf to short-hop Sweitzer. The SU goalie got a piece of it, just enough to slow the ball to a roll. But it kept going, inching toward the goal line. Right before the ball crossed the white line, Sweitzer dove on it, smothering the ball just in time. The shot was originally ruled a goal but was overturned on review.

After Sweitzer’s save, Emma Tyrrell got Syracuse on the board two minutes later to tie it 1-1 with 4:37 remaining in the first.

On a free position from Olivia Adamson, the Hokies left early, allowing her space. On the second attempt, she took a few steps forward before passing off to Emma at the top of the zone. Emma crashed the cage hard and scored into the top right, unmarked.

But, apart from man-up or free position opportunities, Syracuse didn’t score once in the first period.

Just before Emma’s score, Meaghan Tyrrell was blocked from point-blank range. Flanking the cage on the right, Meaghan looked for cutters across the middle. Finding nobody, she took it herself, fighting through contact to the middle of the 8, where the shot was blocked by Virginia Tech’s goalkeeper, Jocelyn Torres.

To start off the second, Torres made another impressive save. Natalie Smith cradled the ball after spinning to collect, throwing her slightly off-balance. Her resulting shot lacked power, and Torres was ready for it, snatching the ball out of the air with her stick raised high.

Torres remained efficient throughout the first half, blocking half of the 10 shots taken at her.

The Hokies’ Maura O’Malley would tie it 2-2 to start the second. But, shortly after, Megan Carney scored a textbook catch-and-score off a feed from Meaghan on the right. Sprinting laterally, Carney collected and fired across her body in one fluid motion.

A few minutes later, Ward collected at her patented X position, finding Emma on the left of the crease. Emma faked once, ducked under a defender and then maneuvered to the tip of the crease. She scored on a shot to the bottom right.

Sweitzer made two straight free-position saves inside of a minute to keep the score at 4-2. Olivia Vergano crashed from the right and the top statistical goalie in the nation went low to meet her. 53 seconds later, she made another save, this time thrusting her stick high at the last second to block another shot from O’Malley.

But, Sweitzer struggled in the third, allowing Blair Guy to complete her hat trick with a free-position shot at 3:28 remaining in the first half. The back-and-forth affair continued as the score was tied for the fourth time in the half, 5-5.

But before, Vergano tied the game up 4-4 with an unassisted score with 6:13 left in the first half.

Sierra Cockerille answered for Syracuse, making it 5-4 less than a minute later. Cockerille rolled around the crease to get in front of the goal before spinning back to shake Emma Monte. From right in front of the cage, she placed the ball through the armpit of Torres for an immediate response.

Syracuse extended its advantage when Meaghan found Cockerille for her second goal on her second shot. She finished with a hat trick for the second straight game.

Shortly after, Carney finished a running shot after Smith hit her in stride coming across the zone with 8:50 left in the third. Her second goal of the game gave SU an 8-5 lead.

Between those two third quarter goals, Sweitzer’s impact was felt again. She saved an inside shot on a man-up possession for the Hokies, negating the yellow card’s impact. Caroline Little shot down hard but Sweitzer blocked it with her knees. The save would set up Carney’s goal to give SU’s its biggest lead of the game to that point.

But then, Ella Rishko then scored twice in a row to make it 9-7 Syracuse.

With 2:49 remaining in the third, Ward muscled past a defender inside to shoot sidearm across her body, then fell with the momentum. When she got up, it was 10-7 Syracuse. But with 40 seconds until the final period, the Hokies had drawn within one.

Smith ensured SU’s lead entering the fourth with a catch and shoot from the outside, making it 11-9 Syracuse entering the fourth. Syracuse attacked in the final period, but Torres kept consistent, blocking multiple shots in the first few minutes.

Three minutes in, Ward put one past Torres from a tough angle. Just in front of the 12-meter base, Ward whipped a sidearm shot into the top left corner of the goal to make it 12-10.

The Hokies then pulled within one. But, in the clutch, Meaghan answered the goal in just 32 seconds to make it 13-11. And after just 49 seconds, Meaghan had scored again on an unassisted dodge from the top of the 12, making it 14-11.

Published on April 26, 2023 at 8:00 pm

Contact Wyatt: wbmiller@syr.edu