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It was hard to tell whether the save was more impressive than the pass. 

Hanna Hilcoff raced toward net and flung a shot forward. Delaney Sweitzer moved her stick slightly to the left and palmed the attempt. 

Looking up, Delaney delivered a pinpoint, 40-yard pass to Hallie Simkins who turned and pitched to Sierra Cockerille. Cockerille continued on past midfield and chugged forward before finding Emma Ward just inside the 12-meter. Ward took her time, performing a pair of pump-fakes before grabbing her hat trick, giving the Orange a commanding 7-2 lead. 

A career-high seven points from Olivia Adamson, combined with 13 saves from Delaney Sweitzer spearheaded No.1 Syracuse (14-0, 7-0 ACC) to a comfortable 19-10 victory over No. 19 Clemson (10-5, 2-5 ACC), which is in its inaugural season. And, the Orange did it all without one of its key attacking midfielders, Emma Tyrrell, who is dealing with a ‘day-to-day’ injury, head coach Kayla Treanor said. 

“Really all the credit goes to my teammates for moving, feeding me the ball, and having great cuts,” Adamson said. “I was just able to score and find my teammates.”  

Uncharacteristically, the Orange didn’t score off of its opening offensive possession and trailed 1-0 early. It didn’t take SU long to equalize. Entering the 8-meter, Adamson fired a shot toward frame that pierced the top right corner at the 11:26 mark. Her second of the game, and 20th of the season, came less than a minute later. 

Natalie Smith charged down the field with both her head and stick on a swivel as she made her way deep into Tiger territory. Picking out Adamson in the middle, Smith passed to the junior forward who caught the ball and scored past Clemson’s Emily Lamparter for Syracuse’s first lead of the afternoon. 

“I thought she was great early in the game,” Treanor said. “Just having those first two goals and being really aggressive. We’re asking her to do a lot and we’re asking her to get better every time she gets on the field.”

Aside from her career night finishing and facilitating, Adamson also landed a new personal-best 14 draw controls, individually outplaying Clemson (13) at the draw circle. Since draw-control specialist Kate Mashewske was ruled out for the rest of the season after an injury, Adamson has slowly evolved into a reliable asset in helping Syracuse win possession and start each move off on the right foot.  

“Having Kate be able to coach me up during the week is awesome,” Adamson said. “I wouldn’t be able to get 14 draw controls without such good circle players.” 

After Gianna New failed to convert on a free position with seven minutes remaining in the opening period, Ward and Meaghan Tyrrell both notched their first goals of the contest to widen the SU advantage to 4-1. Martire produced her second assist of the contest after finding Marina Miller for a point-blank score but the Orange responded by quickly tacking on another two. Both goals came with under a minute left to play in the first quarter. 

Last time out, against Virginia, Ward netted at the last possible second in the opening quarter to give Syracuse a slim 5-4 lead. Today, her second goal came with just 2.5 seconds until the second period. Adamson advanced, running to her right, and found Ward making a flashing move within the 8-meter. Passing forward, Ward caught the ball on the run and found the back of the net to put Syracuse up 6-2 — one of her game-high five goals. 

The ensuing 10 minutes were much like the first for both sides. A Hilcoff score at the 12:03 mark helped cut the Clemson deficit to five but a solo Cockerille effort quickly halted Clemson’s sideline cheering. Then, Megan Carney stamped her name onto the scoresheet with an impressive one-footed shot attempt off of a Ward assist to make it 9-3. 

Throughout the first half, Delaney continued her stellar play between the posts. Recording 10 saves in the opening 30 minutes, much of her success came by stopping Clemson’s free-position opportunities and parrying a majority of its shots from in and around the 8-meter. 

Named to the Tewaaraton Award watch list slightly over a week ago, Delaney came just two shy of tying her career-high of 15 saves that came earlier this year versus Virginia Tech. Toward the waning minutes of the fourth quarter, and with Syracuse holding a sizable advantage, Treanor replaced Delaney with Kimber Hower. 

“I know my defense is going to stop the ball before it ever gets to me,” Delaney said. “I was just able to come up, see the ball well and just be ready.” 

To start the third quarter, Jalyn Jimerson assisted two Clemson goals to Gianna New and Willard to bring the Tigers within three. Both scores were well-worked as Clemson found open looks in and around the crease. 

Trailing 9-5, Clemson was given a man-up opportunity. Jimerson found an unmarked Willard, a couple of steps into the 8-meter. Her pass was a little high but Willard reached upward and corralled it before swinging toward goal in one fluid motion. Delaney was rooted to her feet, motionless, as Willard nestled a shot perfectly into the right corner with eight minutes remaining in the third. 

“They’re a really good opponent and they’ve scored a lot of goals this season,” Treanor said. “We kind of made some sloppy mistakes, uncharacteristic of us, but we just got to clean it up and play a little bit more like us for four quarters.”

Carney added a free-position goal, doubling Clemson’s point total before Tyrrell tacked on her 41st of the season to make it 13-6. In the dying embers of the penultimate period, Smith got onto the scoresheet — her lone goal coming off of an Adamson assist. 

Maddy Baxter opened the fourth quarter scoring for Syracuse. Entering the 12-meter, Carney drew two defenders and dumped off to her left where Baxter lay. She picked up possession and immediately charged forward, keeping the ball above her head and away from Miller. Storming ahead, Baxter unleashed a shot that bounced hard off of the turf and into the net at the 13:09 mark. Two minutes later, Ward gave the Orange its first double-digit lead of the contest. 

Adamson moved away from the 8-meter toward the 12, as if to reset the Syracuse offense. She looked up to pitch back to whoever was positioned at the 12-meter but found no one. Rather, a better option presented itself as Ward peeled away from her defender and entered open space. Adamson looped a pass over to Ward who threw an attempt that found the left corner — her fifth goal and sixth point of the contest. 

“That’s what’s so great about this team,” Treanor said. “They’re able to bounce back and go on runs especially when we really need it.”

Published on April 8, 2023 at 4:37 pm

Contact Tyler: [email protected] | @theTylerSchiff