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Syracuse had started the first quarter against Virginia Tech in similar fashion to Wednesday’s loss to Florida. The Hokies jumped to a quick 2-0 lead on goals from Sarah Lubnow and Whitney Liebler.

But the Orange were finally able to execute their weave for the first time. After getting a flip pass from Jenny Markey, Meaghan Tyrrell stood at the top of the 12-meter and passed to Savannah Sweitzer on her left. Sweitzer sent the ball down to Megan Carney, allowing Meaghan to cut into the 8-meter. Meaghan then buried a shot into the top right corner of the net to score SU’s first goal of the afternoon.

Meaghan’s goal kickstarted an offensive run that helped No. 3 Syracuse (7-2, 4-0 Atlantic Coast) score 12 of the next 13 goals. The Orange used their trademark weave on the majority of those goals in their 17-5 win against No. 24 Virginia Tech (7-4, 2-2 ACC). SU finished with an adjusted offensive efficiency of 42.5%, its second-highest mark of the season according to Lacrosse Reference.

The execution of the weave helped the star attackers of the team to excel. Emily Hawryschuk, who scored the most goals against UF, finished with a team-best five goals, which included a fourth-quarter hat trick.

“It was a great game, one of our best games we’ve played so far this season,” SU head coach Kayla Treanor said. “We were able to dominate all over the field on the draw on the offensive end.”

In the first half, Meaghan scored four goals, taking advantage of the Orange’s typical offensive formation. On a three-man weave, Meaghan cut into the 8-meter where she found some open space past the Hokies backline. Midfielder Natalie Smith, standing outside of the 12-meter, sent a long pass to Meaghan, who scored on a hard shot to tie the game at two.

Carney finished with the most points for Syracuse, recording three goals and five assists. After assisting on Meaghan’s first goal, Carney took advantage of the weave midway through the first quarter. Sam Swart, feeling pressure from Virginia Tech defender Sydney Golini as the facilitator in the weave, flipped the ball to Carney, who then fired a hard shot from the top of the 8-meter that beat Morgan Berman to give Syracuse a lead it would hold on to for the remainder of the game.

Carney emerged again on the weave five minutes into the second quarter. Hawryschuk curled down the right side of the arc but faced consistent pressure from Golini. So Hawryschuk decided to flip the ball to Meaghan, who also faced pressure then flipped the ball to Carney. Carney was able to take a step forward, sending the ball right under the crossbar to give SU an 8-3 lead.

“(The girls) were able to execute the offense and be patient and get really great scoring opportunities,” Treanor said. “And we were getting the shots that we want to get and they just stay in it, worked hard at every possession and got great looks.”

While Hawryschuk did score in the first quarter, she did not have as much success on the formation as her other teammates so far in the game. That changed on SU’s final goal of the first half.

Hawryschuk weaved once around the net but got no pass from her teammates. On the second time around, the fifth-year senior scored. Meaghan flipped the ball to Swart, who was moving toward the left side of 12-meter. As Hawryschuk curled in front of the net, Swart sent a contested pass to Hawryschuk, who had the height advantage on Berman and scored her second goal of the day. This goal was Hawryschuk’s 233rd collegiate goal, passing Katie Rowan Thomson and moving her into third in the all-time leaderboard.

As the Orange maintained a comfortable 10-goal lead heading into the fourth quarter, Hawryschuk would continue to dominate to seal the victory. On the weave, Carney used her speed to keep multiple Hokie defenders on her. This helped Hawryschuk become wide open in front of Berman. Carney sent the ball over the net to Hawryschuk, who scored with ease to make the score 15-4.

Two minutes later, Carney again drew defenders on the weave as Hawryschuk moved toward the 8-meter. Hawryschuk made quick flicks with her stick and then buried the shot past Berman. Another two minutes after that, Hawryschuk finished off her fourth-quarter hat trick by again receiving a pass from Carney on the weave, cementing the final score as 17-5.

“It was awesome to see (Hawryschuk and Carney’s) connection,” Treanor said. “It’s great to see a lot of assisted goals today and Emily had a great game today.”

Published on March 19, 2022 at 6:13 pm

Contact Henry: henrywobrien1123@gmail.com