Mary Rahal’s eyes scaled near the net as her feet planted at the 25-yard line. The redshirt junior was looking for one of the Syracuse cutters to get free like they had all afternoon. But on that play midway through the first half, no one was open.

So Rahal floated a pass to Nicole Levy, who was looking forward – not at Rahal’s pass. The ball hit the turf on Newton Lacrosse Field and after one hop it headed toward UVA goalie Charlie Campbell. Campbell wasn’t looking while the ball passed between her legs and into the net. On Wednesday, even the Orange’s miscues found nylon.

For the first 50 minutes of No. 4 Syracuse’s (15-3, 5-2 Atlantic Coast) first-round matchup in the ACC tournament against No. 7 Virginia (12-6, 3-4), it dominated in every facet. SU’s offense jumped out to nine first-half goals, its defense caused an influx of turnovers and Emily Hawryschuk and Braelie Kempney dominated on the draw. Slowly, the Cavaliers picked up their scoring starting in the second half, but the clock wound before UVA could complete a comeback.

“You’re playing a top-10 team, they’re not giving up,” SU head coach Gary Gait said. “They’re going to make runs, but we stopped the runs and kept them at bay.”

After a sloppy start to the game and two-straight turnovers from the Cavaliers, Sam Swart shuffled left off a handoff from Meghan Tyrrell. With two defenders trailing Syracuse’s leading scorer, Hawryschuk, the junior attack took Swart’s handoff into the middle defenseless. A fake left and swing right gave the Orange their first goal.

UVA increased its attention to Hawryschuk’s midway through the first half, and on one play, she was triple-teamed off a face dodge. She lifted her stick over the navy blue helmets while backpedaling and found Sierra Cockerville, who was standing alone on the crease, to make it 3-1.

Virginia, on the other hand, floated long passes out of the end zone and struggled to scoop ground balls. Off one turnover, Hawryschuk was awarded a free position and faked a shot as the whistle blew. As the defense swarmed in, the junior side-stepped one Cavalier and bulldozed another, causing her to fall onto her back. Seconds later, Hawryschuk found the back of the net.

UVA’s errors and consistency from Hawryschuk and Braelie Kempney on the draw helped SU dominate possession, and when the Orange were on offense, defensive miscues extended the lead. Hawryschuk was left wide open after a slide, Rahal caught Campbell looking away from the ball-handler and fouls ensued often after dodges and shooting motions.

“I thought we dominated the draws and finished our opportunities on the offense,” Gait said. “It was just everybody clicking together.”

Gait slowly clapped after one of UVA’s 10 first-half turnovers. His defense had allowed just two scores in 30 minutes to a team averaging almost 14 goals a game.

But in the first four minutes of the second half, Virginia scored on three-straight possessions. It responded with two unassisted goals, but the Cavaliers fired back to keep the lead within four.

In the final 10 minutes, Virginia controlled possession but started to force shots. Save-after-save from Goldstock kept the margin sizable, but Virginia slowly cut the lead to 12-9 as the Orange offense went stagnant.

“It’s human nature,” Gait said. “We got a little complacent at half time and allowed them to hang around a bit.”

With 2:22 left, Sarah Cooper was called for a foul, and UVA had the ball and a player-up advantage. Immediately, it got a free position opportunity. Goldstock swung her stick from one bar of the net to the other. And as the ball came toward the goal, she braced. It hit her hands, cusping onto the stick and rolled toward Ella Simkins. With possession, Syracuse could run out the clock.

Despite the late run by Virginia, the Orange move onto the second round of the ACC tournament. They’ll face Boston College, the undefeated, No. 1 team in the nation.

“We know they’re an amazing team with great offense talent and a solid defense,” Gait said. “Hopefully Sam Apuzzo won’t light us up for seven again.”

But the Golden Eagles closest game of their season came in the Carrier Dome. SU held a five-goal lead until Boston College slowly fought back, eventually winning, 14-12. The rematch will take place on Friday at 5 p.m. in Chestnut Hill, MA.

“We gave them a heck of the game the first time,” Gait said. “Hopefully we can give them a better game this time.”

Published on April 24, 2019 at 6:14 pm

Contact KJ: kjedelma@syr.edu | @KJEdelman