Sierra Cockerille stepped up for a free position shot. The junior midfielder had already scored on a free position the game prior and was coming off her best performance — a career-high five goals — for the Orange. As she prepared for the shot, the whistle blew, and Cockerille jumped forward and threw a shot on net. But this time, it flew low and wide.

Just two minutes later on the other end of the field, Samantha Lynch, Notre Dame’s leading scorer, stepped up for a free position play. Lynch, who notched just one assist Thursday, crouched down and waited for the whistle. As the referee blew her whistle, Lynch sprang forward as if she were going to shoot. But in a flash, she stopped on a dime and cut back, sending two SU defenders the wrong way, and scored with ease. In the first half, Notre Dame scored two goals on four free-position shots, while Syracuse missed all five of its free position opportunities.

“We made a pretty rough start in that first half, and I guess we were just expecting magic things to happen,” head coach Gary Gait said postgame. “We went into halftime trailing and really needed to regroup and come up with a game plan.”

A 10-2 second-half run changed that. No. 2 Syracuse (5-0, 3-0 Atlantic Coast) topped No. 4 Notre Dame (2-2, 0-2) 15-12, and for the first time this year, fans watched Syracuse women’s lacrosse defeat another ranked opponent. SU’s offense came to life in an 11-goal second-half outing, and the Orange remain undefeated.

“We came out a little flat, and much like the first game, we weren’t shooting well … and we just didn’t get in a flow,” Gait said. “Most of our offense, when they didn’t have the ball, we’d have one player cut, another player carry the ball and the rest of the team just kind of standing around watching.”

After scoring four goals in the first seven minutes of Thursday’s win, Syracuse took eight minutes to get on the board on Sunday. The Orange heeded Gait’s advice on the goal as Emily Ehle received the ball on the right side of the field. After drawing a defender in, Ehle quickly fired a pass to Meaghan Tyrell, who immediately drew two defenders. Meaghan Tyrell looked up and found a wide-open Bianca Chevarie at the side of the goal. Chevarie received the pass and made a fast cut in front of the goal to score SU’s first goal of the afternoon and tie the game at one.

Notre Dame began a scoring run, this time pegging the Orange back four goals. Notre Dame’s Maddie Howe picked up a ground ball near the 30-yard line, blowing past five Syracuse defenders before finding the net as she fell to the ground, sandwiched by two defenders.

The Fighting Irish continued to punish SU’s mistakes when Cockerille’s yellow card gave Notre Dame a man-up for two minutes and Erin McBride scored for Notre Dame. Megan Carney then received a yellow card — after already being called for a few fouls earlier in the game — allowing Jackie Wolak to take advantage. Lynch scored two minutes after that on a free-position play. Five of Notre Dame’s 12 goals came on free positions.

Megan Carney led Syracuse with four goals in the Orange’s three-goal win over Notre Dame. Courtesy of Rich Barnes | USA Today Sports

The Orange offense continued to fire shots on goal, but goalie Bridget Deehan, who was included on the Tewaaraton Award Watch List, made the necessary saves. At one point, Gait shouted to his players to talk to one another as attacking schemes sputtered out near Notre Dame’s goal. Syracuse managed to tack on two goals in the final two minutes, as both Emma and Meaghan Tyrrell scored to bring SU within three goals heading into the half.

“Past few games going into halftime we come out with a 0-0 mindset,” Carney said. “So this half, we said, ‘We’re not going in with 0-0. It’s 7-4. We’re coming out (and) we’re going to come out strong.’”

Ehle began the second-half run for SU with a quick goal just 37 seconds after the restart. Cockerille found a darting Ehle, who ran across the goal and fired to score for Syracuse. Emma Tyrrell scored back-to-back goals, notching her first career hat trick. The third came on a free position shot that beat Deehan and tied the game at seven. Carney capped off this fast start with a goal of her own after receiving a quick pass from Cockerille in front of goal.

“We were allowing them to cover three people with two, or two people with one, and by moving our feet before we had the ball. We had to make them make decisions on whether they cover the cover or cover the person that’s a threat to score,” Gait said. “That was the biggest difference, just moving without the ball and making the defense have to react to it.”

After Notre Dame capitalized on Syracuse’s fouls in the first half, it was the Orange’s turn. Meaghan scored on the man-up early in the second half, and Carney capped off her own hat trick with a free-position goal, completing an 8-0 run in 10 minutes to complete the comeback for Syracuse.

Notre Dame countered with two quick goals to bring the team within one, but Syracuse went on another run to cement its win. The four-goal run featured three goals in one minute, including one from Carney and the game-winner from Sam Swart, who received a pass from Cockerille and ran toward the goal to score and seal the game. Tyrrell tacked on another goal 28 seconds later, which marked the halfway point of the second half. From two minutes left in the first half to the Tyrrell goal, Syracuse went on a 12-2 run to win the game.

“The simple change was move your feet right from the beginning, don’t give the defense a chance to rest and put the pressure back on them, and that was the big difference,” Gait said.

Published on March 14, 2021 at 3:04 pm

Contact Gaurav: gshetty@syr.edu