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Syracuse swung the ball from left to right as head coach Kayla Treanor barked orders from the sideline. Possession ended up in Meaghan Tyrrell’s stick and she converged on goal but was unable to dodge away. Then, she looked up and found her sister, Emma Tyrrell. 

Emma pivoted on the right side of the Northwestern goal, spinning, firing and scoring to put Syracuse up 15-14. The goal was Emma’s fourth of the game and was Meaghan’s sixth assist with 2:24 remaining in the game. Then, Meaghan struck again to give the Orange a 16-14 advantage with just over a minute left to play, icing the game. 

No. 5 Syracuse (1-0, 0-0 Atlantic Coast) opened up its season with a 16-15 win against No. 4 Northwestern (0-1, 0-0 Big Ten) at the JMA Wireless Dome on Saturday. Last year, the Wildcats won in both outings. Building off a dominant second quarter, Syracuse faced a third-quarter comeback effort from the Wildcats that tied things up at nine. In what ended up being a back-and-forth fourth quarter that saw 10 combined goals scored, the Orange escaped.

“We knew they would go on a run at some point, and for us… it is being able to weather the storm and staying composed, not losing trust,” Treanor said. “That’s what we talked about pregame and that’s why I’m really proud of them.”

Olivia Adamson danced around the right side of the 12-yard arc before dodging toward the middle. Spotting a cutting Megan Carney, Adamson passed it off to Carney who immediately fired toward the left corner of the Wildcat goal. Her shot flew past Molly Laliberty for the game’s first goal just 40 seconds into the contest. But, Northwestern quickly responded.

Northwestern took the lead with 3:24 remaining in the first quarter, courtesy of Erin Coykendall. After linking up with Elle Hansen at the X, the two passed back-and-forth before Coykendall ran around the right side of the Syracuse goal, on the edge of the crease, to score. 

The floodgates opened up for Syracuse as soon as a man-up opportunity presented itself. Natalie Smith circled the 12-yard, faking two handoffs before finally giving the ball up to Meaghan who then passed to Emma. Emma’s shot and score gave Syracuse the lead, 4-3, at the 9:51 mark in the second quarter.

Emma Ward also got on the scoresheet to help the Orange open up a two-goal lead. Moments prior, Meaghan had missed Syracuse’s second free-position shot after a cross-checking call on the Wildcats. Ward rounded the 12-yard arc before slotting home past Laliberty, scoring her first goal since 2021. 

By the end of the first half, Syracuse’s slim lead increased to four. Adamson tallied a second goal and Tessa Queri scored her first goal in a Syracuse uniform after receiving a pass from Ward near the crease to make it 7-4. 

“After the first quarter we made adjustments depending on where they were sliding people so kind of just reading that definitely helped our offense quite a bit,” Meaghan said. 

All game long, Maddy Baxter had served as a workhorse in the Syracuse midfield. At one point, she executed a lung-bursting run spanning from the backfield to right near the crease. However, her shot was palmed away at the Northwestern net. With 17 seconds remaining in the first half, Baxter wouldn’t be denied as she put a goal past Laliberty off of a Ward assist. 

To begin the second half, the Wildcats scored three goals in less than a minute to cut a once-four-goal deficit to just one. Hansen and Samantha Smith notched a goal each, both assisted by Izzy Scane, before Scane herself got on the scoresheet for the second time. A big reason for Northwestern’s offensive chances came from the draw control, which the Wildcats had won the lopsided battle by a margin of 23-11.

Although Meaghan netted again for the Orange to recreate a two-goal cushion, Scane converted again before Taylor tied the game up at nine. After Scane missed her third free position, the Wildcats earned another one almost immediately after. Taylor calmly put the ball into the Syracuse net before falling to the ground with 6:15 remaining in the third quarter. 

“It’s a part of the women’s lacrosse game,” Treanor said. “Obviously we want to limit those as much as we can, another area where we can focus on, but, we’re really confident with our defense and our goalie and Delaney [Sweitzer] made 11 saves.” 

Sweitzer’s 11 saves was a career-high. After struggling with keeping a consistent goalkeeper in net for much of last year, Sweitzer’s strong start against Northwestern has answered an early question mark that surrounded SU’s potential success this year in preseason discussions. Postgame, Sweitzer said she learned that she had earned the starting role this past week.

On the defensive end, positioned right in front of Sweitzer as the anchor for the Syracuse backline, Katie Goodale produced a game-high four ground balls and just as many caused turnovers. 

“I thought she was awesome in the clear,” Treanor said of Goodale. “She’s been working so hard not just in her physical game but her mental game and something the whole team has really worked on and I think it showed today.”

With just one minute to play in the third period, Syracuse bided its time. As the clock hit 30 seconds, the Orange sprung into action. Smith found Meaghan near the right-hand side of the crease and as Meaghan caught the pass, Ward immediately cut toward the goal. Catching the ball in stride, Ward scored to put Syracuse up 11-10 going into the fourth quarter.

Venturing into the 8-yard arc, Maddy Baxter scored her second of the game, joining Carney, Emma and Ward as the only Syracuse players to score multiple goals. Holding the stick high above her immediate defenders, Baxter powered in a shot from straight-on to give the Orange a strong start to the final period. Carney would later secure her hat-trick, too, putting the Orange up 13-12. 

“I just thought the offense was so confident and they knew exactly what we were trying to do,” Treanor said. “We made a couple of adjustments and they [the players] handled it so well and were able to execute.” 

Scane hadn’t produced much in the opening five minutes of the fourth quarter. But after Northwestern trailed by just one off of another successful free-position goal from Amonte, she came alive, darting into the 12-yard arc. Although making inroads near the Syracuse goal, Scane was still a good while away from Sweitzer when she fired — a blistering attempt that scorched the roof of the net. 

Scane’s goal tied things up at 13. It was her fourth goal of the game, joining teammate Taylor for most in the contest at the time. But then, Carney joined that club. Off of an assist from Meaghan, Carney gifted Syracuse a 14-13 lead with just 8:16 left to play. Then, four minutes later, Taylor scored again from a free-position, knotting the score up at 14. 

Although Northwestern desperately tried to salvage a comeback in the waning minutes, its gallant effort would fall just short. Scane scored on the left side of the net with 14 seconds to go but it would be too little too late for the Wildcats. 

After the game, upon reflecting on the 31 combined goals scored by both teams in a contest that went down to the wire, Treanor said that people thought she was crazy to schedule a showdown with Northwestern for the season opener. But, on top of coming away with a 1-0 start to the 2023 campaign, Treanor thought facing the Wildcats was a learning opportunity, one that the Orange drew a lot of momentum from before their next game against Maryland a week later. Carney agreed with Treanor’s sentiment.

“I think it’s a great learning opportunity,” Carney said. “Even though we won, we’re still playing a top-5 team in February which we’ve never done before. It’s a good way to go into the season with a win against a tough team. We had to work for that from the beginning.”

Published on February 11, 2023 at 2:47 pm

Contact Tyler: trschiff@syr.edu | @theTylerSchiff