Syracuse’s run to the Atlantic Coast Conference championship ended in disappointment Sunday with a 2-0 shutout loss to No. 11 Wake Forest (14-6).

To get there, the No. 6 Orange (15-5) defeated two teams it had lost to in the regular season in No. 9 Boston College and No. 1 North Carolina behind six goals from junior forward Emma Russell. Unfortunately for SU, Wake Forest played excellent defense on Sunday, shutting down Russell and the rest of the offense en route to the championship win.

Both teams started slowly, with neither getting a shot off within the first nine minutes. When redshirt senior Christine Conroe finally got WFU’s first shot off, she made it count, taking a one-goal lead 15 minutes into the first period. The Demon Deacons would move quickly to extend that lead, as graduate Georgia Holland scored off of a corner just four minutes later to build a 2-0 lead.

The Orange only had one shot on goal during the entire first half, as freshman Laura Hurff ripped one at the net that was saved with about 13 minutes left in the period.

In the second period, Syracuse’s defense locked up and didn’t allow Wake Forest to score again. The SU offense fired off five shots, including one each from Hurff, Russell and freshman Lies Lagerweij, but no one could find the back of the net as WFU continually made stops.

Although the Orange could not bring home the championship, Russell, junior Alyssa Manley and senior Kati Nearhouse made the All-ACC championship team.

Syracuse earned a No. 4 seed in the NCAA tournament and will host Boston University in the first round on Saturday, the NCAA announced Sunday night.

Compiled by Ryan Raigrodski, staff writer, rlraigro@syr.edu, and staff writer Connor Grossman, staff writer, cjgrossma@syr.edu.

Published on November 9, 2014 at 4:27 pm