Emily Hawryschuk’s left foot inched toward the eight-meter mark. Opposing teams expect the junior attack to take two steps and “rip it.”But Hawryschuk’s shots were going left, right, sometimes over the net more than into it. Cocking back her stick during Sunday’s NCAA tournament game against Georgetown wasn’t working — the rain and wind were compromising her aim from deep.

With 10 seconds left in the first half, Hawryschuk did take the expected two steps. But she kept going: three, then four steps. The Hoyas’ defense closed in, but Hawryschuk persisted. By the sixth step, her right arm lunged forward, along with her body. Goalie Haelle Chomo went left. Hawryschuk went right.

Her momentum kept her forward and carried the ball into the net. During her eighth step, the crowd at SU Soccer Stadium started to get up from the soggy bleachers after the Orange’s lead extended to three. Her last stride caused her fall forward and slide face-first onto the muddy grass.

In her three years at Syracuse, Hawryschuk had yet to win a NCAA tournament game. In past years, she was just another goal scorer — a model of consistency in a deep attack. But in 2019, Hawryschuk has been the Orange’s defined star, its engine when it stalls and the one with the ball in her hand when the game matters most. Georgetown’s Taylor Gebhardt fit that mold two days prior in the first round of the NCAA tournament — seven goals, eight points and a game-winner in double overtime. 

In Sunday’s second-round matchup, against the oddity of Syracuse’s 40 degree weather with wind and out of the comforts of the Carrier Dome, Hawryschuk shined when Gebhardt couldn’t. The SU junior’s five goals and two assists steadied a sometimes inconsistent and turnover-prone Syracuse (16-4, 5-2 Atlantic Coast) attack to a 14-8 victory over Georgetown (12-9, 3-2 Big East).

“She knows she’s going to be a marked person, she goes in with a lot of confidence and she trusts her teammates,” Georgetown head coach Ricky Fried said. “A lot of superstars don’t do that.”

Hawryschuk admitted she knew Sunday was going to be “messy.” Seconds after losing the opening draw and somersaulting onto the grass — not Dome turf — she got her first taste of it. But after an errant pass off her missed draw, Hawryschuk bullied her way near the crease for the first score of the game. With both arms, she flexed to her teammates waiting to mob her.

“This entire year, this offense has been dominate,” Hawryschuk said. “No matter who’s having a game.”

Off a rotation, a Hawryschuk pass sailed over a teammate. Later, she lost her footing on a reception from Megan Carney. When the attack had shot attempts from outside the crease, they didn’t hit near their aim. Her best opportunities were to get calls for shooting space and shoot uncontested from the eight-meter. But when that didn’t work, she started to run toward the goal more.

On the other side of the field, Gebhardt’s success around the net that kept the Hoyas in the postseason on Friday was completely taken away from her. Bunched near the midline, Grace Fahey checked the GU senior, stared into her eyes and kept her stick horizontal. Gebhardt would have to play the entire game face-guarded.

“We watched her play the other day, that’s a start,” SU head coach Gary Gait said about the decision to face-guard Gebhardt. “We wanted to take them out of the flow of their game.”

Fried had prepared for the possible assignment in the two days leading up to the matchup. But what he didn’t expect was a “backer” — Sarah Cooper — in position if Gebhardt was to take off toward the net. So, he decided to make a “philosophical decision” to let her stand and stay uninvolved, effectively erased from play. Sunday’s game for Georgetown would have to be six-on-six.

In the opening minutes of the second half, Carney found Hawryschuk — who didn’t drop the ball this time — who netted her 17th hat trick in 20 games. Trailing 8-4 and standing alone on the other side of the field, Gebhardt’s head motioned down with the Orange now doubling the Hoyas’ scoring production.

A commonality on Sunday, Georgetown picked up a loose ball and after two passes, Ella Simkins picked off the third exchange. Hustling to the restraining box, she flipped it to Hawryschuk who was immediately fouled. The wind slowed, the rain quieted for a minute. At the eight, Hawryschuk kept her stick down and tried another long shot. This time, it went in.

“There’s a lot of skill factors she has, but her poise,” Fried said of the factor that impresses him most about Hawryschuk. “She leads tremendously well as a junior.”

Most Syracuse goals in the second frame were matched with Georgetown answers. The Hoyas never held a lead, but a three, sometimes two-goal striking distance gave them credibility to come back.

Throughout the contest, Gebhardt stayed near the midline, attached to Fahey. She finished her final collegiate game with one shot and only a ground ball to her stat line.

As the minutes ticked away from Gebhardt’s final shift, Hawryschuk attempted a shot close and it headed wide right. She looked toward the sideline, toward Gait, toward the referee for a foul. Meaghan Tyrrell had captured her miss and threw it toward an unfocused Hawryschuk. 

“I apologized to Meg afterward, I have to pay better attention,” Hawryschuk said.

She turned back in time, flicked her wrist and scraped twine.

“But a goal is a goal.”

Published on May 12, 2019 at 8:18 pm

Contact KJ: [email protected] | @KJEdelman