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Syracuse draw specialist Kate Mashewske lined up for the most important draw of the entire game. With 20 seconds left in regulation, Syracuse had just conceded a free-position goal to Notre Dame’s Mary Kelly Doherty, tying the game at 16-16 and sending it into overtime after SU blew a five-goal lead.

To start overtime, Mashewske won the draw control and head coach Kayla Treanor immediately used her only overtime timeout to reorganize and prepare the subsequent possession. Syracuse gave the ball to its season-leading scorer, Meaghan Tyrrell, who found herself at the top of the 12-meter, dodging through the right side of it. She spun and dodged towards the center of the cage, slipping the ball past the Fighting Irish’s Bridget Deehan.

“We drew up a play, but we just wanted to make sure we secured the ball and had possession so we didn’t want to chance turning the ball over after we just won the draw control,” Treanor said of the timeout.

Meaghan’s second goal secured Syracuse’s (4-0, 1-0 Atlantic Coast) overtime victory over No. 17 Notre Dame (1-4, 0-1 Atlantic Coast), who’s now lost four straight. The Orange won their first road and conference game of the season by transition scoring and a strong first-quarter start despite conceding many free-position opportunities, which allowed Notre Dame to crawl back into the game and force overtime.

Despite a high-scoring contest, the game’s first goal didn’t come until five minutes into play when ND’s Madison Mote scored. But after that, the Orange dominated the last 10 minutes of the opening quarter, outscoring the Irish 6-1.

Syracuse thrived when it cleared from its defensive end to its offensive end and scored in transition. To equalize the game at one apiece, Katie Goodale intercepted an ND pass inside SU’s 12-meter fan. The Orange cleared, switched ends and passed the ball to Meaghan just 10 meters to the right of the goal. Jenny Markey cut down the right side of the 12-meter, received a pass from Meaghan and scored. On Saturday, the Orange finished 16-of-17 on clear attempts, finishing above its average of 91.7%.

Later in the quarter, Sarah Cooper deflected an ND pass and secured the ground ball, leading the clear. As the Orange worked their offensive possession, Deehan, a goalkeeper, fouled Emma Tyrrell, which gave the Orange a free-position and empty-net opportunity. Emma scored easily, and over the course of the game she scored four goals on seven shots and recorded three assists.

But Notre Dame responded with a stronger second quarter, scoring six goals to SU’s four. Four of those six goals, however, didn’t come from Notre Dame working the ball around or weaving through SU’s defense. They came as a result of the Orange’s fouls in the 8-meter area when Fighting Irish players tried to dodge through the defense. These free-position shots gave ND easier chances to get the ball in the net and were how Notre Dame tied the game at 16 with under 20 seconds to go. In total, SU conceded nine free-position goals.

“Especially in the fourth quarter, they had nine free position goals in that game which is a lot. And unfortunately, I don’t think all of them were warranted, but it is what is and you can’t control that,” Treanor said. “That’s what got them back in the game.”

In the second quarter, Bianca Chevarie fouled ND’s leading scorer Madison Ahern and not only was it a free-position chance, it also was a woman-up opportunity. Ahern decided to shoot at Delaney Sweitzer, launching a low-to-high shot into the upper-right corner cutting its deficit to 6-5.

But Syracuse also received its fair share of free-position shots, too. With under 10 seconds remaining until halftime, three Fighting Irish defenders all fell on top of Emily Hawryschuk and took her to the ground. Hawryschuk lined up for the free-position shot at the top of the 8-meter, hinting with her stick’s cradling that she was going to shoot instead of dodging towards goal.

Hawryschuk launched an underhand low-to-high shot similar to Ahern’s and nestled it into the top of the net past Deehan. The goal extended SU’s lead to 10-8 going into the halftime break and Hawryschuk finished the first half with a hat trick.

Out of halftime, the third quarter was dominated by the Orange. Emma scored an unassisted goal just one minute into the quarter, and then one minute later, she returned the favor by finding a cutting Sierra Cockerille, who scored her only goal of the afternoon. During the game, seven Orange players found the net.

By the end of the third quarter, Syracuse had built itself its largest lead of the game, entering the fourth quarter with a 14-9 lead and seemed well on its way to securing its third win over a ranked opponent. But the Fighting Irish wouldn’t go away. Kasey Choma had a free-position shot from the right side of the 8-meter and she had a narrow shooting window. Choma took the chance and scored the ball into the upper-right net past Kimber Hower, cutting the lead to 15-12. Like its first-half lead, the free-position shots hurt SU and ultimately gave life to Notre Dame who seemed to be out of it by the third quarter’s ending.

Syracuse responded, however, with another well-played demonstration of switching the field and clearing. After a Hower save, Goodale recorded the ground ball which sparked another SU in-transition goal. Emma had the ball on the right side, powering through the 12-meter. She stopped, looked back and saw a trailing Megan Carney who scored in stride and Syracuse went up 15-11.

“We tried to build on from what we did in Stony Brook in transition and they did a good job tonight.” Treanor said. “The attackers did a nice job of finishing when they had those transition goals.”

After that, it was all Notre Dame. ND finished regulation on a 5-1 scoring run with two goals from Choma and one from Adern. Choma and Adern led the Irish with five and six goals, respectively, but it was Doherty who equalized late in the game. But in the end, SU’s leader in goals salvaged a near upset and the Orange escaped South Bend with a win heading into Tuesday’s game against No. 6 Northwestern.

Published on February 26, 2022 at 10:44 pm

Contact Cole: colebambini@gmail.com | @ColeBambini