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After sluggish starts in each of its last two games, Syracuse swung the momentum in its favor before the opening draw was even collected. Opposing faceoff specialist Annie Marshall hit Olivia Adamson on the head while they tried to collect the draw, causing a yellow card just four seconds in.

The penalty resulted in two minutes of player-up offense for SU, when it scored twice and never gave possession to Johns Hopkins. On the weave, Sierra Cockerille found Meaghan Tyrrell, who tapped to Megan Carney coming down the middle of the 8-meter. Carney fired it home, making it 1-0 Syracuse at 13:48 in the first.

After SU won the ensuing draw, Cockerille was left unmarked in the middle and buried it into the top right, giving SU a 2-0 lead in under two minutes of play.

Following a 15-game win streak that secured SU’s best regular season in program history, the Orange faltered in each of their last three games. After a late collapse allowed Boston College to win the regular-season finale in the fourth quarter, SU came out flat against Virginia Tech and UNC in the ACC Tournament, scoring a combined two first-quarter goals while allowing seven.

After 16 days of rest, the most it’s had all season, SU dominated Johns Hopkins in the opening minutes. But from the 13-minute mark to the seven-minute mark, Syracuse couldn’t crack the 12-man ride that Johns Hopkins employed defensively.

Emma Tyrrell gave Syracuse its momentum back with a first-quarter hat trick in the final five-and-a-half minutes, and the SU offense took off from there. Behind the Tyrrell sisters, Syracuse (17-2, 8-1 ACC) crushed Johns Hopkins (9-9, 4-2 Big Ten) 25-8 in the first-ever matchup between the two teams. Advancing to the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals, Syracuse will play No. 7 seed James Madison on Thursday at SU Soccer Stadium.

“Having two weeks to get ready just gave us that energy and excitement back,” Emma said.

SU outshot Johns Hopkins 36-25, due in large part to Syracuse’s 22-12 lead in draw controls. That culminated with SU’s highest-scoring game of the season, while multiple offensive players had career days, including four hat tricks.

Emma finished the game with a career-high seven goals, while Meaghan moved into seventh on the NCAA all-time scoring list. The two combined for 13 goals and 17 points.

“Emma I think got a lot of momentum early off the draw, was seeing the ball well, shooting it well, had a couple 8-meters that she buried that really were important for us,” said head coach Kayla Treanor. “Meaghan was just aggressive and she was great off-ball today… they’re just really dynamic.”

But early on, the press defense caused six SU turnovers over a six-minute span, allowing Johns Hopkins back into the game early. Emma was the first Syracuse player to clear the ball successfully after the Blue Jays smothered consecutive attempts early on, and she took control of the offense from there.

“I thought our ride was good, but all our other facets were… tough,” said Johns Hopkins head coach Tim McCormack.

Once Emma ran the ball down the field herself to avoid another turnover, Syracuse clicked back into form. On Emma’s first free-position shot, she took a few decisive steps toward the net from the peak of the 8-meter, then short-hopped the right corner to make it 3-2 Syracuse with 5:28 left in the first.

Just over a minute later, she earned another free-position opportunity and added a little wrinkle. This time from the left side, Emma bounced it closer to her stride, causing the ball to hop over Maggie Tydings’ stick on the save attempt, and SU took a two-goal lead.

During the second quarter, Natalie Smith scored unassisted with just over eight minutes left, and Meaghan scored the next SU goal in just 18 seconds after Adamson won the draw. Carney collected the feed, off-balance, on the left side and lobbed the ball into Meaghan’s stick. Knocking on the door of the crease, Meaghan shot high into the close corner to make it 8-3.

As time ticked down in the first half, Meaghan scored her 100th point of the season with 3.5 seconds remaining. Adamson picked up the loose ball from out of bounds and, seeing Meghan at the crease, sent a high pass for her to sling down into the net.

The Orange stretched the lead to 12-6 entering the half. But throughout the game – and especially early on – Delaney Sweitzer kept SU’s lead comfortable with momentum-shifting saves. She finished the game with a 57.9% save rate, besting her ACC-leading season average.

When the game was tied 2-2 in the first, Maeve Barker was fouled in transition to earn a free-position opportunity. On the left side, Barker spiked it off the turf and Sweitzer slid on a knee to stop the bouncing ball with her chest. The Blue Jays would go 1-for-4 on free positions in the quarter, which gave Syracuse time to get back the offensive momentum, which Emma did.

Johns Hopkins saved just four goals all game and changed goalies multiple times. Nothing could stop the Syracuse offense, especially in the third when it outscored the Blue Jays 9-1.

“We really took it to another level in the third quarter and were able to get a lot of transition opportunities,” said head coach Kayla Treanor.

The Tyrrell sisters kicked off the second half right where they left off in the first. Once again, it only took Meaghan 18 seconds to score off the draw. Cradling the ball, Emma crossed the zone laterally and found Meaghan to the right of the crease. She leapt up to retrieve the pass and then scored in an open right side, becoming SU’s all-time goals and points leader in the NCAA Tournament.

Shortly after, Meaghan scored her fifth goal of the game to put Syracuse on cruise control. As defenders converged on her from both sides, Meaghan protected the ball and escaped facing the cage, where she placed a sidearm shot into the net to give Syracuse a nine-goal lead.

“We kind of knew what we wanted to do better going into the third,” Meaghan said. “[We] made sure we were putting an emphasis on if you need to stop and help clear, and just running our offense how we want to run it.”

Published on May 14, 2023 at 6:06 pm

Contact Wyatt: wbmiller@syr.edu