Women's Lacrosse - UNC over Syracuse Photos

Syracuse, N.Y -- North Carolina came from behind, then held off the Syracuse Women's Lacrosse team for a 12-11 win at the Carrier Dome on Saturday. Here is a look at the game in pictures by Kerry Bretti. Click on any photo to start slide show.

Tar Heels Edge Orange Women in Top-5 Matchup

By Nick Richardson
Photo by Kerry Bretti

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – In a showdown of two of the best women's lacrosse teams in the country, the No. 3 North Carolina Tar Heels emerged with a hard-fought, 12-11 victory over the No. 4 Syracuse Orange on Saturday afternoon at the Carrier Dome.

“Two very good teams going head-to-head,” Syracuse head coach Gary Gait said. “I think it was a game of runs. They got that last run and got up on us and we just didn’t find a way to bury it.”

Both teams went on 5-0 runs during the contest. Unfortunately for the Orange, the Tar Heels’ run came at a more opportune time in the second half. UNC kept Syracuse off the board for most of the half to seal the win.

The Tar Heels improved to 12-2 on the season and remain perfect in ACC play with a 6-0 conference record. The loss for the Orange marked its first defeat since losing to Boston College 13-8 back on March 19^th. Syracuse now stands at 12-4 overall and 4-2 in the ACC.

Fast Start

Both teams got off to blistering starts. Syracuse's Riley Donahue opened the scoring just 43 seconds in, but was quickly answered by back-to-back goals for North Carolina. A Kelly Cross goal made the score 2-2 less than two minutes into the game.

The pace slowed down some as the game progressed. After the Tar Heels went up 4-2 with 21:51 left, the Orange went on a 5-0 (including two more goals from Donahue) to take a 7-4 lead.

Back and Forth

North Carolina recovered and managed to cut SU’s lead to 8-7 going into halftime despite being outshot by the Orange 20-11.

A big factor in SU’s failure to capitalize was some sloppy play in the midfield, turning the ball over nine times in the first half alone.

“The biggest difference was giving the ball back when we had opportunities,” Gait said.

Offense Goes Cold

The Tar Heels made a goalie change at the half, bringing in senior Megan Ward to replace junior Caylee Waters. The switch proved to be a wise decision. UNC’s defense completely shut down the Orange women in the second half, limiting them to three goals and holding the Orange scoreless over the final 10:54 of the game.

“She got in our shooters’ heads a little bit,” Gait said about Ward. “She made a couple saves early and then we missed the net a bunch and we didn’t put it in. She was definitely a game-changer today.”

The Orange recorded 17 shots in the second half, but was unable to capitalize on several restarts that might have put Syracuse ahead.

“We just tried to slow our game down,” Donahue said. “Maybe if we kept our pace up we would have kept it going.”

Despite the tough loss, the Syracuse players were confident that playing well against such a talented opponent could only serve as a positive learning experience.

“I think it’s good that we have this experience underneath us because we’re not in the postseason,” senior Kayla Treanor said. “This is just the regular season and we still have two more big games left, so we’re not done.”

Donahue led the Orange with four goals and six points. Treanor added four points of her own.

Sophomore Ela Hazar led North Carolina with six points while senior Sammy Jo Tracy and junior Carly Reed both scored three goals.

Up Next

The Orange will travel to face Cornell on Tuesday, April 19 at 7 p.m. in the last road game of the regular season.

Syracuse at Cornell Photos

Ithaca, N.Y. - Cornell upset the Syracuse men's lacrosse team in overtime on Tuesday night, 10-9. Here's a look at the game in pictures by Kerry Bretti. Click on any photo to start slide show.

Syracuse Upset by Cornell in OT Thriller

By Kerry Bretti 

ITHACA, N.Y.- Cornell upset No. 11 Syracuse on Schoellkopf Field Tuesday night, 10-9. Despite never leading in regulation, the Big Red scored its most important goal in overtime, beating Syracuse for the first time in three seasons. This is Syracuse’s third overtime loss this season.

Syracuse scored the first two goals of the night but never gained more than a two-point lead on the Big Red. Cornell tied the game up five different times. Cornell’s offense was led by Clarke Petterson who had a hat trick for the Big Red. Ryan Matthews, who scored the game winner, ended with two goals and one assist. Kason Tarbell also added a pair of goals for Cornell.

“Tonight we battled all the way until the end,” Cornell Coach Matt Kerwick said. “We made more plays than they did at the finish.”

In overtime, Ben Williams won his 18th faceoff of the night to give Syracuse the first shot on offense. Derek DeJoe took his fifth shot of the night and was expecting a push from behind call after the shot, which he did not receive. When the ball rolled out of bounds Cornell was deemed closest to it, thus gaining possession. Matthews dodged his defender and took a shot on the crease, right past Evan Molloy.

“This team just keeps grinding,” Matthews said.

Despite the loss, Molloy had a good night in goal for the Orange in his second start. He made six saves on 16 shots on goal, including one save at the end of regulation to force overtime. Syracuse cleared successfully eight of eight times.

Williams appeared to be getting back into his groove, winning 18 of 22 faceoffs for the Orange. Domenic Massimilian won three of 18 for Cornell while Grant Mahler won one of three and Matt Schattner lost one of one. William’s wins weren’t enough for the Syracuse offense.

“Ben Williams played a great game,” Syracuse head coach John Desko said. “He gets us the ball in overtime and that’s all we could ask of him. He gave us a lot of possessions. In the other games in overtime we didn’t have the opportunity. The other team was getting the ball off the faceoff and we were forced to play a lot of defense.”

Nick Mariano led the Orange in scoring with four goals. Dylan Donahue added two goals and an assist while Jordan Evans added one goal and two assists. Syracuse shot 40 times, only 22 of them on goal. While the Orange has been pretty successful on man-up opportunities this season, the team was no match for Cornell’s man-down squad. The Orange went 0-4 on extra-man opportunities.

“That could have been the difference in the game,” Desko said. “If one of those could have gone maybe we wouldn’t have gone into overtime.”

Brennan Donville played the entire game between the pipes for Cornell and made 13 saves on 22 shots on goal. This was senior Donville’s first win against Syracuse.

With the win, Cornell improves to 5-5 while Syracuse falls to 6-4.

Statesmen Out of Gas, Syracuse Cruises By

By Kerry Bretti 

GENEVA, N.Y.- Hobart hosted No. 10 Syracuse in a battle for the Kraus-Simmons Trophy Wednesday night and Orange outlasted Hobart 13-6, putting an end to the team’s three-game losing skid. One key change in the Syracuse starting lineup proved to work in its favor. Evan Molloy made his first start of the season in goal for the Orange, replacing Warren Hill.

Molloy saved seven of 13 shots on goal, including two momentum-changing stops. Hobart trailed Syracuse 7-2 late in the first half but the Statesmen quickly found light and went on a 4-0 streak to pull within one goal of the Orange. Molloy, who had only made one save during the scoring streak, made two huge saves to prevent the tie game including one with the shooter right on the crease.

“I think I let in six in a row to be honest so we really needed that save," Molloy said. "The defense was playing great all day and they kind of broke down there and they needed me and they were playing well for me all day so I had to get a save for them. You get kind of deflated when a team goes on a run like that. I think that save just got the energy back up.”

After the saves Syracuse went on a 6-0 run to end the game and ultimately win 13-6. Seven different players scored for the Orange, led by Jordan Evans with four goals. Sergio Salcido finished with six points on two goals and four assists while Dylan Donahue and Nick Mariano finished with two goals and one assist each. Syracuse’s offense took more than double the number of shots that the Statesmen did, 43-21, due largely in part to possessions won by Syracuse's Ben Williams at the faceoff X.

“It was a little one-sided from a possession standpoint,” Hobart Coach Greg Raymond said. “We thought that coming into this game Ben had been a little bit off in terms of who he was last year versus who he is this year and he was his normal self today. If you look at the first quarter and the fourth quarter of this game today Syracuse had the ball the entire time.”

Williams won 13 of 21 faceoffs for the Orange. Hobart’s J Andrew Spallanza won six of 13 and Matthew Pedicine won two of seven. Ben Bechter went 0-1 against Williams at X.

Hobart’s scoring was led by Frank Brown who had two goals for the Statesmen followed by Gavin Llewellyn who added one goal and one assist. Goalie Jackson Brown played the full 60 minutes and made 12 saves on 25 shots on goal.

With the win, Syracuse improves to 6-3 while Hobart falls to 5-5. Next up, Syracuse will travel to Cornell to play the Big Red on April 12 at 7 p.m.. Hobart will host Robert Morris on April 9 at noon.

Syracuse Prevails as Duke Comeback Falls Short

By Kerry Bretti 

SYRACUSE, N.Y.- A strong first half for the No. 4 Syracuse made it difficult for a fighting No. 14 Duke to make a comeback late in the game at the Carrier Dome on Sunday afternoon. The Orange went on a 9-2 run in the first half and led 11-5 at the break. Duke then held Syracuse to only three goals in the second half but the Orange was victorious, beating the Blue Devils 14-12.

Kayla Treanor, Halle Majorana, Nicole Levy and Kelly Cross each scored two goals during that 9-2 run in the first half that made it impossible for Duke to catch up. Treanor led in points, tallying three goals and four assists. Majorana added a hat trick of her own and an assist and Nicole Levy finished with two goals and three assists.

Syracuse’s defense was stingy in the first half. The Orange threw faceguards on Duke’s Kyra Harney and Kelci Smesko, the team’s leading scorers, and both were held scoreless. Allie Murray played the full 60 minutes between the pipes for the Orange and made eight saves on 20 shots on goal.

Without its two leading scorers shut down, Duke’s scoring was led by senior Maddy Acton who had six goals. Maddy Crutchfield added a hat trick and an assist for the Blue Devils. Duke went on a 7-2 run to end the second half but it didn't prove to be enough to catch the Orange.

In goal for the Blue Devils, Kelsey Duryea made seven saves on 21 shots on goal.

The teams were pretty evenly matched throughout the game, each dominating one half. Syracuse won 14 of 27 draw controls with Kayla Treanor at the center and each team took 27 shots.

With the win, Syracuse improves to 10-3, 3-1 in ACC play, and Duke falls to 8-4, also 3-1 in ACC play. Next up Syracuse traveled to Buffalo to play Canisius at 7pm in the second half of a home and away doubleheader. Duke travels to Boston to play Boston College on Saturday, April 9. The Orange is at Virginia Tech on the same day.