With heavyweight bouts defining the Sunday women’s lacrosse slate, it was a great opportunity for us to learn more about the teams in contention.
Here’s how it all went down.
SYRACUSE SURGES AFTER EARLY HOLE
It truly was a tale of two halves in the Carrier Dome.
Syracuse faced a seven-goal deficit after the first quarter and trailed by four at halftime, but the Orange buckled down. Five days after an overtime loss to Northwestern, No. 3 Syracuse got five goals from both Meaghan Tyrrell and Megan Carney and came back to defeat No. 7 Duke 18-16.
Syracuse outscored Duke 10-4 in the second half and 11-7 after the first quarter.
Trailing 12-8 after Maddie Jenner scored with five seconds left in the first half, Syracuse (5-1, 2-0 ACC) scored the first four goals of the third quarter — three by Tyrrell and one from Jalyn Jimerson — tying the score at 12. After Veronica Hineman scored for Duke (6-1, 0-1 ACC) Tyrrell and Carney scored back to back.
Still fighting, Duke tied it at 14 on Olivia Carner’s ninth goal of the season, but Syracuse’s dynamic duo again took control. Carney sandwiched a Tyrrell goal with two of her own, giving the Orange a 17-14 lead from which they wouldn’t look back.
But Duke still pressured. Carner’s goal with 3:04 left cut the deficit to 17-16, but Sam Swart iced it for Syracuse with 22 seconds remaining.
NORTH CAROLINA THUMPS NORTHWESTERN
The defense of the second-ranked Tar Heels didn’t buckle under the weight of a Northwestern offense capable of lighting up the scoreboard. Taylor Moreno made 11 saves and UNC forced Northwestern into 12 turnovers as the Tar Heels earned a 20-9 win.
No. 5 Northwestern (4-2) ended a four-game winning streak, which included a thrilling overtime win over Syracuse on Tuesday. North Carolina (6-0) got five goals and one assist from Richmond transfer Sam Geiersbach, two goals and three assists from Jamie Ortega and four goals and one assist from Ally Mastroianni. Mastroianni also controlled nine draws.
UNC led 8-3 at halftime before Northwestern closed the gap to 8-5 on goals from Samantha Smith and Lauren Gilbert to open the third quarter. UNC only led 11-6 after the third period, but the offense exploded for nine goals in the final stanza.