Florida, Syracuse Rally to Defeat a Pair of Top-Five Teams on the Road

Emily Heller isolated her defender near the top of the arc, split from left to right, swept across the field and shot across her body to score in overtime, lifting Florida to a 13-12 comeback victory over Maryland in College Park.

Seeking their first win of the season, the 16th-ranked Gators looked dead in the water when the fifth-ranked Terrapins scored six unanswered goals to take a commanding 7-2 lead at halftime.

But Paisley Eagan (four goals) provided the spark in the third quarter, scoring twice in a three-minute span. Gianna Monaco and Madison Waters added tallies in the final 34 seconds to pull Florida within one going into the fourth.

Coming off a dramatic overtime victory at Syracuse, Maryland clung to a 12-11 lead with 20 seconds left in regulation. That’s when Eagan took a pass from Maggi Hall and scored to send the game to overtime.

Liz Harrison snared her 10th draw control to give the Gators possession to start overtime. Heller made sure the Terps never got the ball back again.

Pictured above: Emily Heller (left) and Madison Waters sandwich coach Amanda O'Leary to celebrate Florida's 13-12 OT win over Maryland in College Park.

SYRACUSE SURGES IN SECOND HALF

It’s officially ACC season, and Syracuse found its midseason form Saturday.

Trailing 10-6 at halftime, the seventh-ranked Orange scored six goals in the third quarter and four more in the fourth to defeat second-ranked Notre Dame 16-14 in South Bend.

Olivia Adamson and Natalie Smith scored four goals apiece for Syracuse, which rebounded from the OT setback to Maryland. Jackie Wolak scored a game-high five goals for the previously unbeaten Fighting Irish.

There were seven penalties in the second half, all of which resulted in power-play goals. It was tied at 12 apiece early in the fourth quarter when Emma Muchnick and Maddy Baxter scored just eight seconds apart.

Emma Tyrrell converted a feed from Emma Ward to make it 15-12 with 10 minutes remaining and Notre Dame never got to within closer than two goals from there.

NOTABLE

How about that Michigan defense? The eighth-ranked Wolverines are giving off 2023 Denver vibes, their latest defensive gem a 9-3 victory at 13th-ranked USC. Michigan, which led 7-1 at one point, has allowed just 12 goals combined in four games.

Ten different players scored and 20th-ranked Clemson corralled 24 of 35 draws to pick up a convincing 20-11 road win at Duke.

Niki Miles and Catherine Berkery scored four goals apiece and Erika Chung contributed two goals and three assists to lead No. 14 Penn to an 11-10 win over No. 12 Johns Hopkins. The Quakers led by as many as five and withstood an incredible individual effort by Ashley Mackin, who scored the last three goals to pull the Blue Jays within one with four seconds left. Mackin finished with seven goals.

Rutgers is off to a 4-0 start for the third time in the last four seasons. The Scarlet Knights earned their fourth straight victory by virtue of a thorough 16-9 dismantling of Army. Cassidy Spilis scored five goals and Lily Dixon had three goals and three assists.