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After conceding a 4-0 run in the fourth quarter against No. 6 Loyola, which cut Syracuse’s five-goal lead to one with a minute left, the Orange escaped with a 14-13 win to extend their winning streak to three games. To continue the home-stand, it hosted Pittsburgh on Saturday in the inaugural meeting between the teams where SU entered with a 99.3% chance to win, per Lacrosse Reference.

Just like it did against the Greyhounds, SU started slow offensively, only finding the net twice in the first quarter and trailing 4-2 at the end of the first quarter. But Syracuse outscored the Panthers 5-0 in the second quarter as part of an 8-0 run and it regained a lead it would never surrender to remain undefeated in conference play.

Here are some observations from No. 4 Syracuse’s (10-2, 5-0 Atlantic Coast) 18-6 win over Pittsburgh (6-7, 0-6 ACC):

Slow first quarter, stronger finish

In the last five seconds of the first quarter, Pittsburgh’s Kierin Ratliff-Kailbourne tried to escape past her defender for a shooting window. She spun, getting enough separation just inside the top of the 8-meter. She fired a low rolling shot which snuck past Kimber Hower as time expired to extend the Panther lead to 4-2 at the end of the first quarter. SU’s two goals marked the second-lowest number of first-quarter goals in a game this season, with just one goal against Florida being its lowest.

But after that, Syracuse silenced the Panthers in the second quarter, outscoring them 14-4 in the final three quarters. Just 12 seconds into the third quarter, SU was able to find the back of the net when Katelyn Mashewske scored her first goal of the season. After securing the draw control, she charged into the offensive zone finding Sarah Cooper for a quick give-and-go and scored the first goal of a 3-0 run in the first five minutes of the third quarter.

With 16 seconds left in the third quarter, Emily Hawryschuk received a dump-off pass just above 8-meter. She switched sides from the left to right, and she launched a side-winding rifle past goalkeeper Paulina DiFatta to score her fourth goal of the afternoon, which was also a short-handed goal. Against the Panthers, she became the fifth player in SU history to record 300 points and is now 16 goals away from breaking head coach Kayla Treanor’s career-goal record.

Cutting runs create scoring opportunities

To open the scoring for SU, Hawryschuk moved across the 8-meter arc from left to right. As she transitioned, Meaghan Tyrrell, who was camped out behind the goal, cut inside directly in front of the cage. Hawryschuk made the pass to the unmarked Meaghan who put away the easy goal to level the game at one.

In the second quarter, Meaghan had the ball on the right side of the 8-meter and appeared to begin her dodge in front of the net. But instead, she faked it, allowing her younger sister Emma Tyrrell to cut right in front of the cage. Emma breezed past her defender leaving her wide-open for the easy finish to score the third goal of a 5-0 run in the second quarter which recaptured the lead for the Orange.

Natalie Smith had possession near the top left of the 12-meter and waited for the offense to unfold. Meaghan was similarly behind the net and not closely marked. She began to cut from behind the left side of the goal to in front of the cage, where Smith found her on a cross-field diagonal pass and put Meaghan in prime position to score her third goal of the afternoon.

To extend the Orange’s lead to 12-5, Meaghan waited patiently on the right side of the offensive zone. Cutting was a wide-open Savannah Sweitzer who made her away from the left side to the center and received the pass in stride and put the ball in the net.

Free-position struggles

Just two minutes into the second quarter, the Panthers had conceded their fifth free-position shot to the Orange after Pitt’s Emily Coughlin committed a foul. SU’s Sam Swart lined up at the top of the 8-meter and dodged straight ahead. But as she went to shoot, multiple Pitt defenders closed in on her, and as she shot, she fell, causing a short, powerless shot in front of the cage that had no power behind it. It resulted in an easy save for DiFatta and kept SU scoreless on the free position through all five attempts at that point.

On another attempt in the second quarter, Meaghan started her dodge from the top-right side of the 8-meter but as she charged towards DiFatta, her shot hit the left post and bounced away from the goal. SU finished the first-half 1-of-6 on free-position shots with the only score coming from Emma.

In the second half, Syracuse scored two more free-position goals. The latter came in the fourth quarter when Jalyn Jimerson lined up from the left side of the 8-meter. Instead of dodging toward the goal, she decided to wind up her shot which rifled past DiFatta and extended SU’s lead to 16-6. In the second half, SU was 2-of- 2 on the free position.

Meaghan Tyrrell and Emily Hawryschuk lead SU

With Megan Carney injured for the second consecutive game, Syracuse has been able to showcase its depth offensively. Against the Greyhounds, it was Emma who stepped up, and on Saturday, it was Hawryschuk and Meaghan who combined for 10 goals and 14 points.

To go up 11-5, Meaghan began dodging from the right side of the 8-meter against Elise Bialecki. She faked left to only go right and with a small shooting window, she dumped in a short left handed goal past DiFatta.

In the first quarter to level the game at two, Hawryschuk dodged from the left side of the crease to the center near the cage, splitting through Pitt’s Coughlin and Caroline Lederman, who attempted to double team her. But the double team wasn’t enough to stop Hawryschuk who scored her first goal of four on the afternoon.

Published on April 2, 2022 at 2:35 pm

Contact Cole: colebambini@gmail.com | @ColeBambini