North Carolina Women Prevail in One-Goal Game Against Syracuse

By Kerry Bretti 

SYRACUSE, N.Y.- Syracuse hosted North Carolina at the Carrier Dome on Saturday in an ACC Women's Lacrosse top two matchup. In a game of runs, the Tar Heels made them count, outlasting the Orange 12-11. 

After the Heels began stalling late in the second half, up by one, it nearly sealed the deal for the UNC win. With 36 seconds left and a glimmer of hope for the Orange, the Tar Heels turned the ball over on the Syracuse end line. 

The Orange would have 36 to clear the ball and score a goal to tie the game at 12. The clear got to about midfield before the Orange turned it back over with 19 seconds left. That was be the ball game.

“Two very good teams going head to head and it’s a game of runs,” Syracuse Coach Gary Gait said. “They got that last run and got up on us.”

Orange leads at halftime, but Tar Heels recover

Syracuse went into halftime up by one goal supported by a powerful 6-1 run. The Tar Heels made the second half theirs, winning the half 5-3 and ultimately putting them past the Orange. Senior Sammy Jo Tracy led North Carolina’s scoring with three goals and one assist. Carly Reed added a hat trick for the Tar Heels. Sophomore Ela Hazar had six points on two goals and four assists.

“You keep giving a good team like that the ball, they’re going to score on you,” Gait said.

Scorers and Stoppers

Syracuse scoring was led by Riley Donahue who also had six points, finishing with four goals and two assists. Kayla Treanor added two goals and two assists while Halle Majorana and Kelly Cross each added two goals. Syracuse lost at the draw circle as well, only grabbing 12 of 25 draws.

North Carolina played two goalies, each seeing a half of the action. Caylee Waters started for the Tar Heels, saving only two of ten shots on goal. Megan Ward stepped in for her at the half and saved seven of ten shots on goal, a huge difference maker for the Heels. Ward is credited with the win.

“She [Ward] played great,"Gait said. "Seven saves in the second half to really turn the game around for them. She got in our shooters heads a little bit.”

Syracuse’s Allie Murray played the full 60 minutes in goal for the Orange . Murray made six saves on 18 shots on goal. Syracuse tallied 31 fouls and three yellow cards against the Tar Heels. Carolina was one for three on free positions and Syracuse scored one of four free positions.

Tar Heels title, next

With the win, North Carolina improves to 12-2 and wraps up the ACC regular season title at 6-0 with one game left in conference play. The Tar Heels host Duke next Saturday, April 23.

Syracuse drops to 12-4 and 4-2 in the ACC, with one conference game at home against Louisville on Saturday, April 23. First, the Orange women will visit Cornell this Tuesday, April 19.