EVANSTON, Il.— A teary-eyed Megan Carney was stoic almost 30 minutes after her first collegiate season ended in defeat. During the press conference, she reasoned why her offense didn’t show up for the first 30 minutes.

But midway through, a smile appeared on her face. Syracuse head coach Gary Gait didn’t want to look at Saturday’s game. He wanted to look forward, more specifically at the two players to his left at the podium.

“We were young, super young team,” Gait said, motioning to Carney and junior Emily Hawryschuk. “We’ll come back with a team that has an incredible amount of experience of winning.”

In No. 5 seed Syracuse’s (16-5, 5-2 Atlantic Coast) 18-14 loss to No. 4 seed Northwestern (16-4, 5-1 Big Ten) on Saturday, Hawryschuk and Carney combined for nine of the Orange’s 14 goals. In fact, only one goal scorer from today— Natalie Wallon — won’t return in 2020. As SU tried to mount a comeback against the Wildcats, it didn’t rely on upperclassmen like Nicole Levy and Julie Cross, who had been to a final four before. It relied on a group of players, who a week ago had never won an NCAA tournament game.

“That’s what we had to manufacture from the previous year,” Gait said. “I think that’s going to be important.”

For Hawryschuk, postseason success had eluded her despite her goal-scoring numbers. In 2018, where the then-sophomore led the Orange with 53 goals, Syracuse lost in the first round of the ACC and NCAA tournament. When Hawryschuk was a freshman, Riley Donahue took the final shots for Syracuse. Last year, Levy was the more-experienced attack.

This season, Hawryschuk’s been the catalyst. She scored the clinching goal in overtime against Northwestern in February, and on Saturday, she broke through an on-and-off face-guard from NU defender Nell Copeland. Instead of disappearing off personalized defenses like top opposing stars this season, Hawryschuk has found a way to average 3.57 goals a game.

“She’s been shut out, face-guarded multiple times like today and she still comes out with five goals,” Gait said after Saturday’s game.

In the midst of the Orange’s potential comeback, she took a draw — Hawryschuk had 10 draw controls on Saturday — switched sticks and ran around the eight-meter to play off-ball. Because of the face-guard, most of her driving lanes were limited, but occasionally she beat Copeland.

“It shows that she refuses to be denied,” Gait said. “She’s one of the few players in the country that hasn’t been shut out before.”

When Hawryschuk couldn’t find space — specifically in the first half — she deferred to Carney. As Northwestern jumped to a 3-0 lead in the first five minutes, Carney scored the first two goals for the Orange. Scores off a feed and a free position kept SU close in the opening minutes until the Wildcats dominated possession.

 

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Against NU on Feb. 24, Syracuse was down 14-13 with under 30 seconds left. From midfield, Carney shifted right and jumped toward the crease to score the equalizer. Her late score made Hawryschuk’s game-winner possible.

“(Carney’s) a good player because she has that IQ,” Levy said earlier this season. “So she dodges with her head up so she’ll get the assist, but when she scores her goals, it’s because she’s getting herself in the right position.”

Remnants of her nine-point game against Virginia — tied for the fourth-most in program history — showed up early on Saturday. And after a lightning delay, when Northwestern had game planned for both Carney and Hawryschuk, fellow freshman Meaghan Tyrrell scored a pair out of the break, and another with eight minutes left.

With SU’s top three scorers returning next year, the Orange may find themselves in a similar position again. And Syracuse will have their same top players for a chance at a final four.

“We’re not going to be the underdog,” Gait said. “Teams are going to be ready for us. We’re going to develop the ability to finish games and win the big ones.”

 

Published on May 18, 2019 at 11:13 pm

Contact KJ: kjedelma@syr.edu | @KJEdelman