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Syracuse opened up the first two weekends undefeated, picking up close wins over then-No. 13 Stanford and No. 4 Stony Brook, while cruising to a 23-6 victory over Binghamton. All of those games were played in the Carrier Dome and on Friday, the Orange traveled to South Bend, Indiana, for its first road and conference test of the season against a Notre Dame team that had lost three straight.

After equalizing the game at one, SU never gave up its lead until Notre Dame scored a free-position shot to tie the game at 16 and send it into overtime. Meaghan Tyrrell drove right of the 12-meter and scored the 17th and final goal in sudden death.

Here are some observations from Syracuse’s sudden-death 17-16 (4-0, 1-0 Atlantic Coast) conference opener at No. 17 Notre Dame (1-4, 0-1 Atlantic Coast):

Strong 1st quarter

Though the first goal of the game by ND’s Madison Mote wasn’t scored until four and half minutes into play, the Orange dominated the final 10 minutes, outscoring the Fighting Irish, 6-1. The six goals tied the most in a quarter against a ranked opponent this season and the dominance got started with a Jenny Markey goal, which equalized the game at one just over a minute after ND jumped out in front.

Later in the quarter, Emma Tyrrell secured a draw control and ran the right side of the field before SU connected a quick three pass sequence from Emma to Sierra Cockerille to Sam Swart, who ultimately found Emily Hawryschuk right in front of the cage for a simple shot right past ND goalie Bridget Deehan that put the Orange up 4-2.

On the subsequent draw control, Emma once again secured the ground ball on the Kate Mashewske draw and on the ensuing possession, Hawryschuk was fouled by Mary Kelly Doherty near the 8-meter fan, which resulted in a free-position shot opportunity from the center of the field. Hawryschuk converted, slipping the ball past Deehan once again.

The Orange had four different goal-scorers in the first period, notching 10 shots, nine of which were on target. On the other hand, Notre Dame only had four total shots and two goals in the period, which gave Syracuse a comfortable lead heading into the second quarter.

ND capitalizing on free-position chances

With just 19 seconds left and leading by one, SU conceded a free position opportunity to Notre Dame. SU had led 16-13, but it gave Doherty and the Fighting Irish a chance to tie it. Doherty converted by dodging from the right side of the 8-meter and sent the game into overtime.

The Orange’s 6-2 lead it built up the first quarter started to slowly shrink courtesy of Notre Dame goals on free-position opportunities. Just 30 seconds into the second quarter, Delaney Sweitzer was called for a foul on Madison Ahern, which allowed an empty-net free position opportunity for Notre Dame’s team-leader in points, goals and shots. Ahern launched it into the net, cutting the Orange’s lead to 6-3.

A minute later, Cockerille was called for a foul on ND’s Kasey Choma, conceding another free position opportunity. Choma scored it past Sweitzer, halfing SU’s largest lead in the game at the point. A couple minutes after that, Bianca Chevarie fouled Ahern, and this time it was a woman-up, free-position opportunity. Ahern launched an underhand low-to-high shot into the upper-right corner making SU’s lead just one. Ahern would get another free-position goal later in the second quarter as two-thirds of ND’s second-quarter goals came from free-position opportunities.

In the fourth quarter, when SU’s lead was once 14-9, Choma had a free-position shot from the right side of the 8-meter and she launched the ball upper-right of the net with a narrow angle just past Kimber Hower, cutting the lead to 14-11. Similar to SU’s first-half lead, free position opportunities shortened SU’s big leads.

Transition goals

To equalize the game at one, Syracuse cleared from its defensive end when Katie Goodale intercepted a pass in the 12-meter fan. On the other end, Meaghan found herself about 10 meters to the right of the goal and found a cutting Markey from the top of the 12-meter fan who placed it past Deehan.

Later, Notre Dame’s pass got deflected caused by Sarah Cooper who also grabbed the ground ball and then led the clear. On the subsequent possession, Deehan fouled Emma and similar to Ahern’s empty-net goal, Emma easily placed the ball into the empty net on the free position shot.

In the third period, Notre Dame’s Cailin Field turned the ball over and in transition, SU only needed about five passes and 25 seconds to get the ball into the net when Megan Carney found Hawryschuk in front of the cage who dodged and placed it past Deehan, extending the scoreline to 13-9.

To put the Orange up 15-11, Hower saved Doherty’s shot which resulted in a Goodale ground ball which sparked another SU in-transition goal. Emma powered down the right side of the 12-meter looking back and seeing a trailing Carney who received the pass and scored.

Hawryschuk succeeds

In the first three games combined, Hawryschuk had a total of five goals, two each against Binghamton and Stony Brook and just one against Stanford. Coming off an ACL tear, Hawryschuk didn’t seem to be back to her usual self in those first three games, at least statistically. But against Notre Dame, the preseason All-American found her groove.

In the second quarter, with under 10 seconds until the halftime buzzer, three Fighting Irish players converged and plummeted Hawryschuk to the ground with all three falling on top of her. She drew a foul and a free-position opportunity. Instead of charging towards goal, she launched an underhand quick low-to-high upper-net shot which scored, putting SU up 10-8 at half.

Published on February 26, 2022 at 9:04 pm

Contact Cole: [email protected] | @ColeBambini