Syracuse got out to an early lead and fended off multiple comeback attempts as the No. 2 seed Orange (16-4, 5-2 Atlantic Coast) beat No. 3 seed Notre Dame (13-6, 4-3), 9-5, on Friday night in Blacksburg, Virginia in the ACC tournament semifinals.

With the win, Syracuse will have a shot to win back-to-back ACC championships on Sunday at 1 p.m. Last season, the Orange beat No. 3 seed Boston College in double overtime, No. 2 seed Duke and No. 1 seed North Carolina in double overtime to win its first-ever ACC title.

It’ll be a rematch of the thrilling 2015 championship game as Syracuse again faces top-seeded North Carolina on Sunday afternoon.

SU was up just one at the break, but a four-goal run in the second half was spurred by freshman Nicole Levy. The Orange distanced itself from the Fighting Irish, which went scoreless for a stretch of 16:45 in the second half.

Levy has been on a tear; her two goals on Friday gave her seven in two tournament contests. She scored a career-high five goals on Thursday night in the 16-11 quarterfinal win against No. 7 seed Boston College. Levy’s performance broke her previous career high of four goals, which she posted on March 26 against Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana.

The last time the two teams met, then-No. 2 UND was at its season’s highest point and reeling then-No. 9 SU had lost three of its last five. But goalkeeper Allie Murray made three saves in the final minute to help SU escape with a 12-11 win that catalyzed the Orange on a five-game win streak.

Syracuse didn’t need late game heroics on Saturday. SU jumped out a 2-0 lead early, led by goals from Kayla Treanor and Kelly Cross. Treanor’s goal moved her into sixth all-time in points in college lacrosse history. Led by senior attack Kiera McMullan, UND slimmed Syracuse’s lead to 4-3 by the break, but it wasn’t enough to overcome Syracuse’s run.

A goal from Levy on the free position put the Orange up.

Then the ensuing three goals from Cross, Riley Donahue and Halle Majorana put the Irish away for good.

Published on April 29, 2016 at 10:01 pm

Contact Sam: sjfortie@syr.edu | @Sam4TR