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In the fourth quarter, Emma Tyrrell found herself just outside the 8-meter with a shooting window to extend SU’s lead and give a little breathing room to a lead that had been slowly shrinking. Emma launched a low-rolling shot which snuck past Stony Brook goalkeeper Charlie Campbell, but during the routine stick checks after each score, it was determined Emma had an illegal stick, negating the goal which kept Syracuse’s lead at 12-11.

On the ensuing possession, Sierra Cockerille picked up her second yellow card, giving Stony Brook a woman-up opportunity on its last chance. But after SU defended the Stony Brook attacker’s dodge and Tessa Queri picked up the ground ball, the Orange cleared and killed the clock, securing the team’s second win over a ranked opponent.

“It definitely got chaotic at the end of the game,” head coach Kayla Treanor said. “The defense held it down and did what it needed to do.”

In a back and forth game, No. 4 Stony Brook (0-1, 0-0 America East) couldn’t spoil Katie Rowan Thomson’s jersey retirement as No. 3 Syracuse (3-0, 0-0 Atlantic Coast) narrowly defeated the Seawolves 12-11. Through strong scoring runs from the Orange, SU managed to escape with four players scoring multiple goals despite lead changes.

Ahead of the game, all Syracuse players warmed up in shooting shirts with No. 21, honoring Rowan Thomson, whose jersey was retired Sunday afternoon. Following a four-year career from 2005-09 where she recorded the program’s most points (396), Rowan Thomson became the second SU female athlete to have her jersey retired following Felisha Legette-Jack, with her number right next to Gary Gait’s No. 22.

The Seawolves quickly jumped in front just 58 seconds into the game. Kailyn Hart found a cutting Ellie Masera in the middle of the 8-meter for Stony Brook’s first of the season. Masera found the net later in the first quarter from a similar spot to extend the lead to 2-1. Erin MacQuarrie’s four assists tied with Megan Carney for the game-high.

After the Seawolves got in front one minute into play, Syracuse equalized three minutes later with a free position opportunity. The Orange cleared and on the ensuing possession, Lindsay Rongo received a yellow card for checking to the head. Emily Hawryschuk scored the free position shot, recording her first goal of the afternoon.

With one minute left in the first quarter, Emma dodged a Seawolf defender inside the 12-meter fan and found her older sister Meaghan Tyrrell outside of the right side of the cage, who equalized the game at 2-2. Later, with three seconds left in the first quarter, Meaghan returned the favor, assisting Emma while giving Syracuse its first lead of the afternoon.

“When it comes down to those final minutes of each quarter or each half, we’re kind of prepared to do what we have to do to get a momentum shift if we need it,” Meaghan said.

Just 27 seconds into the second quarter, Carney found Hawryschuk at the crease for her second goal of the game. A minute later, Carney had the ball behind the net and saw Meaghan cutting towards the goal and launched a short, over-the-net pass to Meaghan, who dodged her defender and put away her second goal as well as the final of a string of four unanswered goals. Then, Stony Brook silenced the Syracuse attack, only allowing one more goal for the remainder of the half.

In the first half, both teams played scrappy, awarding occasional free position attempts. After an SU foul, Stony Brook had a free position opportunity, deciding to reset instead of going towards goal. Masera cut from outside the 12-meter fan right down the middle, receiving a pass in stride before slipping the ball past Delaney Sweitzer to cut the Orange’s lead to 5-4. By halftime, the Orange led 6-5.

Kate Mashewske won the opening draw to start the third quarter and within 55 seconds, Carney scored in a fashion similar to Syracuse’s quick start in the second quarter. A few minutes later, Meaghan scored her 14th goal of the season, putting the Orange up 8-6. However, that lead wouldn’t last long as Stony Brook ultimately regained the lead.

MacQuarrie ran down the right side of the 12-meter, finding Hart who was just behind the goal to the left. She approached Kimber Hower from behind, but saw Charlotte Verhulst cutting towards the goal. Hart made the simple pass, which resulted in the easy goal as the Seawolves notched three unanswered goals to take a 9-8 lead.

After an ensuing timeout, Hawryschuk won the draw, catching the ball before it even hit the ground. The Orange received another free position opportunity and Carney scored, leveling the game at 9-9.

“We made adjustments on the defense, on the offense and on the draw circle,” Treanor said of the media timeout after Stony Brook took the lead. “We got a lot of life back in us and they were able to score those four goals. They always look to respond.”

Similar to the Seawolves’ string of unanswered goals, Syracuse responded with three more goals that Stony Brook wouldn’t respond to until the fourth quarter.

With just under 12 minutes in the fourth, Rongo received her second yellow card, disqualifying the Seawolves’ leader in ground balls at that point. But Syracuse couldn’t convert on the free position attempt, giving possession back to Stony Brook with another chance to cut the deficit.

MacQuarrie found herself alone on the right side of the 12-meter fan. Kyla Zapolski cut from the top of the 12-meter straight down and MacQuarrie found her cutting, dropping the Orange’s lead to one.

“That wasn’t our cleanest win,” Carney said. “It was definitely messy but any top 5 win is gonna feel good for us.”

Published on February 20, 2022 at 6:52 pm

Contact Cole: colebambini@gmail.com | @ColeBambini