Syracuse traveled to face Notre Dame with the belief that it’d be one of the toughest matchups for the Orange all season. During its first two road dates against top-10 opponents this season, Syracuse fought to pull away late in the game.

On Saturday, it took only seven minutes of game action for Syracuse to essentially put the game out of reach.

It took Katie Webster just 57 seconds to put Syracuse on the board. Kailah Kempney added one of her own 29 seconds later. And by the 18:02 mark of the first half, No. 1 Syracuse (15-1, 6-1 Atlantic Coast) had scored eight unanswered, as the Orange cruised to an 18-10 win over the No. 9 Fighting Irish (9-7, 2-5) in front of 2,657 at Arlotta Stadium in South Bend, Ind. With the win, Syracuse clinched a share of the ACC regular-season championship.

After allowing six goals and recording just one save, Notre Dame pulled starting goalie Allie Murray, but the damage had already been done.

“They came out fired up and it was awesome,” said head coach Gary Gait. “They came out firing on all cylinders, they didn’t make mistakes and had a great start.”

Kayla Treanor finished with a game-high four goals. Alyssa Murray had three as well. Kempney, though, set the tone for the win, scoring three of the first five goals.

“She had a great game today,” Gait said. “She came out on fire. She got us off to a great start, not only getting us the draws but also the ball in the back of the net.”

Notre Dame had its best chance midway through the second half, when it sliced the lead to 12-7 on a goal by Grace Muller with 13:04 left to play.

But 40 seconds later, Katie Webster got a shot past Liz O’Sullivan. Notre Dame wouldn’t get within five the rest of the game.

SU midfielder Bridget Daley saw her first game action since being sidelined with an injury during Syracuse’s win at Stetson on Jan. 24. She scored a goal late in the second half.

“I think she’s a huge part of this team and she has been from the sidelines,” Gait said. “It’s her second game of the year. She stepped up and had a goal today, kind of a welcome back. She got to contribute and it hopefully made her day.”

More than anything else, it was just icing on the cake for a Syracuse team that had a lot to celebrate.

The Orange returns to action in the ACC tournament quarterfinals on Thursday in Chestnut Hill, Mass.

Published on April 19, 2014 at 8:51 pm

Contact Sam: sblum@syr.edu | @SamBlum3