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With 44 seconds remaining and the game tied at 15-15, Emily Hawryschuk bent to her knees and prepared for the draw against Northwestern’s Jill Girardi. Hawryschuk did just enough to win at the draw circle, and Syracuse claimed possession before calling a timeout to set up a play.

The Orange looked to feed Hawryschuk again as she had already kept Syracuse in the game with two goals and two assists in the first half. To help SU to a 6-0 scoring run in the third quarter, Hawryschuk assisted on a goal and then scored two more to help it take its first lead of the half.

After the timeout, Syracuse moved the ball around to wind down the clock. Eventually, Hawryschuk got the ball on the left side and came crashing near the crease. But she was blocked by Northwestern goalkeeper Madison Doucette from close range, resulting in overtime.

No. 6 Northwestern (4-1, 0-0 Big Ten) won the initial faceoff in overtime, and Hawryschuk could only sit and watch as it scored the free-position goal to win 16-15 and hand Syracuse (4-1, 1-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) its first loss of the season. Still, Hawryschuk had a record day as she totaled a career-high nine points and was one goal shy of tying her career-high in goals with six.

To start the game, Syracuse found itself down 2-0 after a turnover by goalkeeper Delaney Sweitzer that resulted in an open-net free shot for the Wildcats.

After seven minutes of going scoreless, Hawryschuk helped Syracuse get on the board with her first assist of the day. She drew the attention of defenders and dished a pass off to a cutting Sam Swart, who sent the ball into the back of the net.

A little over a minute later, Hawryschuk saw Swart cutting behind her, pulling extra defenders to free someone else on the team. Hawryschuk recognized that Savannah Sweitzer had a one-on-one opportunity and dished it to her for a quick shot to tie the game.

Hawryschuk only got on the board at the end of the first quarter. She was on the attack before getting fouled, easily scoring on a free-position goal with a low winding shot to the right.

With Kate Mashewske struggling on the draw up to that point, head coach Kayla Treanor rotated different players to try and adjust to Northwestern’s specialists. Hawryschuk gave Syracuse an opportunity to take the lead when she won her first draw control of the evening, one that resulted in a free-position goal from Emma Tyrrell.

While Hawryschuk went quiet to end the half, Syracuse also fell with her. After her second goal, the Orange gave up four straight goals and only managed three shots over the final ten minutes of the half.

But Hawryschuk caught fire three minutes into the second half, when she threw a pass to Emma Tyrrell for the second goal of the quarter. She then followed it up with her 12th goal of the season and third of the day after Jenny Markey missed a free shot opportunity but Hawryschuk scored on the rebound.

To reclaim the lead, Syracuse cleared the ball after Sarah Cooper scooped up a ground ball and then got it to Hawryschuk, who had the hot hand. Hawryschuk attacked the net, and all Northwestern’s Kendall Halpern could do was foul her to prevent a goal.

It didn’t matter because Hawryschuk scored regardless as she cocked her stick back and sent the ball flying past Doucette to give Syracuse a 9-8 lead.

Meaghan Tyrrell scored her first goal of the day, and then Sweitzer scored her second to cap off a 6-0 run sparked by Hawryschuk. By the end of the third period, Syracuse had a 13-10 lead, the momentum of the game had completely shifted, and Hawryschuk had scored or assisted on seven of Syracuse’s 13 goals

Northwestern scored the first goal of the fourth quarter, but Hawryschuk remained perfect on free-position shots and scored with 10 minutes left in regulation to keep a three-goal distance between the two top 10 teams.

Northwestern clawed back with a goal in response, and Hawryschuk answered back. This time, the team moved the ball around the net until Megan Carney eventually got the ball behind the net. She saw a cutting Hawryschuk and sent it to her.

But even with Hawryschuk securing a three goal lead with 4:23 remaining, Northwestern proved to be too much for Syracuse when it had to rely on its defense to win the game.

Published on March 1, 2022 at 8:33 pm

Contact Adam: amccaffe@syr.edu