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CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Sam Swart ran around the scoring area looking for a pass, but as she surveyed the field, BC’s Jill Reilly pressed up and checked Swart hard twice. Swart fell to the ground, and the referees awarded her a free position and Reilly a yellow card. As Swart stood up to take the shot, head coach Gary Gait called a timeout.

Out of the timeout, Swart readied for the whistle. Instead of shooting, she passed back to a teammate and the Orange set up their offense.

Jenny Markey, Meaghan Tyrrell and Sierra Cockerille sent a few passes between each other to pull the Eagles defenders back and forth. Eventually, Markey faked a pass right to Meaghan Tyrrell and instead sent a long pass over the top to Emma Ward, who was wide open after making a backdoor cut. Ward scored and immediately turned back to point at Markey to thank her for the assist.

“They were playing the Tyrrell sisters super tight, playing out on them,” Gait said. “It opened up the middle a little more, and it gave Emma (Ward) time to get to the middle of the field, make some moves … then get the shot and finish it.”

For the third time in nine days, Syracuse (14-2, 8-2 Atlantic Coast) faced off with Boston College (13-3, 8-2). The Orange prevailed on Friday, 19-17, in the highest-scoring regulation ACC Tournament game ever. Syracuse scored 11 goals in the first half alone, and after a 13-minute drought, it stormed back with a 6-3 run to advance to its first ACC Tournament final since 2017. The Orange achieved the victory all without star attacks Emily Hawryschuk and Megan Carney, who both tore their ACLs earlier this season.

“When players go down, someone else is willing to step up,” Gait said.”They have that confidence because they’re supported by each other and they’ve been through a lot of adversity.”

The defense shined in the win in the ACC Tournament opener against Virginia Tech on Wednesday, as the offense only mustered nine goals. The offense came alive in the first half on Friday, scoring 11 goals. Emma Tyrrell and Ward, who have filled in for Hawryschuk and Carney, led the way. The pair both notched first-half hat tricks.

Emma Tyrrell started the afternoon scoring off an assist from her sister. After Bianca Chevarie sent a free position shot over the goal, Meaghan Tyrrell hustled to put the ball back in play with just seconds remaining on the shot clock. She scrambled to look for a pass and eventually found Emma Tyrrell making a run across goal. She controlled the pass in the air and buried it in the net.

Emma Tyrrell wrapped up a first-half hat trick in the last seconds of the first half. Syracuse won the draw through Ella Simkins, and the Orange immediately drove the other way. Meaghan Tyrrell ran down the field and lobbed a pass over a defender to the onrushing Emma Tyrrell, who streaked across goal and scored with five seconds remaining in the half.

The Orange entered halftime with a commanding 11-6 lead, with three goals scored in the final 100 seconds. That momentum continued into the second half when Swart scored on Syracuse’s first offensive possession of the second half as she drove into the heart of the BC defense and buried her shot into the net.

Cockerille then added a hat trick of her own. She grabbed the ball at the left of the scoring area, dodged a defender, ran to her right and sent a shot flying into the net.

“I thought our first line middies played extremely well. We knew they were going to get looks in,” Gait said. “Swart and Cockerille, they shot really well today, and that’s what we needed them to do. They took advantage of the opportunities and what BC gave us and really did a nice job.”

The offense went cold as Boston College embarked on a 7-0 run in just under seven minutes to take a one-goal lead. Two of the Eagles top scorers, ACC scoring leader Charlotte North and All-ACC first-teamer Belle Smith, took over the game. The duo combined to score five of BC’s seven as the Eagles took their first lead of the game since North made it 1-0 at the beginning.

The Orange recorded just one shot, by Meaghan Tyrrell, in that stretch as the defense attempted to weather a storm from the Eagles’ offense. SU also lost five straight draw controls as the Orange attempted to wrestle back control of the game. 

Sam Swart recorded four points in Syracuse’s semifinals win over Boston College. Courtesy of Andrew Mead

Eventually, Morgan Widner won a draw and the Orange had possession back. Syracuse returned to its motion offense on the following possession, and Cockerille found a good look on goal but had her shot saved. After Asa Goldstock saved a free-position shot on the other end, the Orange marched back on offense.

Syracuse turned once again to Ward to find an offensive spark. She would end the run as she rolled into the area with the ball from the left side. The freshman paused, faked a spin move and pushed forward before firing a shot into the top-left corner as she was falling down to tie the game.

“When they had that run, we just needed to get back focused,” Gait said. “We had a long drought, and (Ward) got us that one goal that got us back going again.”

The Orange would then go back and forth in trading goals with North, who ended the day with six goals.

With 1:39 left, Ward took the game in her hands as she ran around the back of the goal. She faltered and almost fell to her knees but regained her balance and looked to goal. Ward rose up and drove right before sending a laser into the top-left corner in what ended up as the winner and her fifth of the game.

On the ensuing draw, Emma Tyrrell picked up the loose ball and was decked to the floor by BC’s Hollie Schleicher, who received a yellow card for the fall. On the man-up, Emma Tyrrell scored into an empty net to send Syracuse to the ACC Tournament final.

“Our stars, even though they were shot at times and face-guarded, they still stepped up,” Gait said. 

Ward finished with six points, Cockerille with five and Swart with four. Along with the Tyrrell sisters, they powered Syracuse to the comeback win. But for most of the season, Gait has stressed the importance of putting together a full 60 minutes on both sides of the ball. On Wednesday, it was the defense. On Friday, it was the offense.

But in the final waits North Carolina, who used a 45-minute, 18-0 scoring run against No. 4 seed Notre Dame to cruise to the final. For Syracuse to win its first ACC championship since 2015, Gait knows his team needs to find a way to put it all together.

“I don’t think we quite got 60 minutes. I think our defense would like a redo. I think they could’ve got a few more stops and they’d like to do it again,” Gait said. “But we’ll move onto Carolina and see if we can put a full game together on both ends of the field.”

Published on April 30, 2021 at 5:28 pm

Contact Gaurav: gshetty@syr.edu