No. 18 Syracuse (8-5, 0-3 Atlantic Coast) topped No. 6 Loyola (8-3, 4-0 Patriot), 12-11, in overtime to grab a signature road win to start off another road trip. Emily Hawryschuk was the hero, giving Syracuse the winner in the extra period to cap off a career day for SU’s leading scorer. SU overcame second-half defensive lapses and a game-wide offensive lull to win its second game in five games of a tough stretch.

“She got the last one when we needed her to,” SU head coach Gary Gait said.

Hawryschuk was the Orange’s answer all game long. She scored a career-best six goals — three in each half — and added two assists. Gait said her performance was another example of Syracuse’s opponent trying to “shut down” junior attack Nicole Levy, who’s been faceguarded frequently of late. He continued that Hawryschuk needed to step up and in response, she gave SU her highest goals total of her career.

The Orange, which was a loser of three of its last four games prior to Thursday, jumped out to a 5-1 first-half lead that was wiped away in the second half as the Greyhounds tied the game at nine with 6:31 remaining. The Greyhounds, after getting nearly shutout in the first half of play, turned around in a big way, winning the second half 10-6. Despite the second half push, the Orange was able to add a few more goals late to fend off the Loyola comeback and force the game into overtime.

“We turned it over a couple times in the same position in the second half when we needed to make the plays to stop their run and run out the clock,” Gait said. “That’s the way the ball bounces sometimes.”

The first half had been all Syracuse. Coming off of a blowout loss to Duke, the Orange needed its offense to step up to get back in the win column. It did early on, as it jumped out to a four-goal lead 23 minutes into the game. But the second half didn’t provide the same fortunes as Loyola was lifted by the play of Livy Rosenzweig, who scored three goals and recorded two assists to lead the Greyhounds in points.

Despite the win and the dominant play of Hawryschuk, the Orange’s offensive struggles continued. Before Thursday, the Orange had put in just 10 goals in three of its last four games, all resulting in losses. Over the Orange’s recent slide, its offensive futility would often lead to losses, but on Thursday the Orange was able to overcome it by buckling down on defense and getting necessary stops late in the game.

The Orange’s star sophomore Hawryschuk wasted little time in the overtime period to give SU the win, scoring in under a minute. While the second half mimicked the struggles the Orange faced over its recent stretch, Syracuse was still able to pull together the signature win it needed desperately.

“The kids never gave up,” Gait said. “They rallied, got the ball in overtime and won it.”

Published on April 5, 2018 at 7:19 pm

Contact Michael: mmcclear@syr.edu | @MikeJMcCleary