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No. 5 Syracuse and No. 4 Northwestern have played in each of the last three NCAA Tournaments, with SU only winning once.

Last season, the Wildcats sent the Orange home in the NCAA Tournament quarterfinal game, a 15-4 beatdown during which only two Syracuse players scored goals. However, both teams look significantly different than they did last May, with Syracuse returning multiple key attackers and Northwestern losing its top scorer.

Here’s some observations from Syracuse’s (1-0, 0-0 Atlantic Coast) 16-15 win over Northwestern (0-1, 0-0 Big East) at the JMA Wireless Dome:

Early action wanes quickly in both halves

Both Syracuse and Northwestern scored on its opening possessions, but neither team did so again for the following 10 minutes.

On the game’s opening possession, Olivia Adamson searched for a lane on the right and drove inside the 12-meter as Megan Carney cut inside the 8-meter on the opposite side. Carney collected Adamson’s pass and shot in one quick motion, sending the ball past Northwestern goalie Molly Laliberty. SU took a 1-0 lead just 37 seconds into the game.

But Northwestern responded in another 37 seconds, exactly. Samantha Smith won the draw over Kate Mashewske, who quickly committed a foul. Then Erin Coykendall juked inside off the left wing and saw Madison Taylor just outside the crease. She ducked under Halley Simkins and sent a bullet into the top right.

After that score, however, both defenses buckled down, each blocking two shots before Northwestern retook the lead with 3:24 in the quarter. Coykendall got her second point of the game on a wraparound score from the X position.

When the second period started, Northwestern scored on its first offensive possession again. Elle Hansen received a pass from Izzy Scane to the left of the net and ripped a shot past SU’s Delaney Switzer for the score. SU still led 8-5, but that would quickly drop to 8-7.

A game of runs

Syracuse scored on each of its final three possessions of the first half, while Northwestern did the same to start the third period. Neither team scored during the other’s run.

For Syracuse, it was Emma Ward who led the charge, earning two assists in the final minute and a half of the second quarter. Ward collected at the X and looked up to see Tessa Queri to the left of the crease, Ward passed high so that Queri could swipe down for the score, giving Syracuse a 7-4 lead. Her next assist went to Maddy Baxter for her first score of the season.

Scane led the way for the Wildcats, scoring or assisting on all of their three goals.

After assisting on the first two goals of the second half, Scane took it herself to narrow the margin to one. She received a pass from Carleigh Mahoney at the top of the box, immediately falling forward with the force of her turnaround shot attempt. The ball went in and she got up and chucked her stick to the ground in celebration of her third-straight scoring contribution.

Meaghan scored her first goal of the season to go up 9-7 shortly after. But before the Wildcats tied it at 9, there was a three-minute scoreless streak.

Meaghan Tyrrell assists due to tight defense

With time winding down in the first, Tyrrell held the ball on the right outside the 12-meter, looking for an inside cutter. She found one in Carney, who took a turnaround shot off the turf as Laliberty wasn’t expecting the bounce. Syracuse would tie it at two with five seconds remaining in the period.

Meaghan was draped by multiple defenders all game, forcing her to pass throughout, especially in the 12-meter.

Meaghan waited on the right while Acadia Connor drove down the middle. When she got the feed, she immediately sent a high pass to a cutting Ward, who shot across her body to score from point-blank range with 12.4 left in the third quarter. As a result, Syracuse took an 11-10 lead into the final quarter, one that abandoned the script thus far and saw back-and-forth action throughout.

Meaghan also assisted on Syracuse’s lead-taking goal midway through the fourth quarter, a dime to Megan Carney that gave Syracuse a 14-13 lead. Then she assisted her sister for the second time in the game to give Syracuse a 16-14 lead

Meaghan finished with six assists and two goals in the Syracuse victory.

Emma Ward shines in return

Off an errant free position shot by Meaghan, Ward collected at the X with Katie Shanely glued to her hip as she wrapped around the crease. Ward ripped her shot into the top right corner to give Syracuse a 3-5 lead.

After missing all of last season with turf toe, Ward returns as one of Syracuse’s top attackers this season. In the wake of Emily Hawryschuk’s departure, Ward saw a larger role in the season-opener. Her five points (three assists and two goals) made the difference in a hard-fought game.

With 17 seconds left in the half, SU was up three and won the faceoff to gain possession back. Ward had just assisted Queri, but wanted more. From the 12-meter, Ward passed to Maddy Baxter with her stick held high. Baxter swiped down on the pass, just like the last two goals, to give SU an 8-4 halftime lead.

Published on February 11, 2023 at 3:03 pm

Contact Wyatt: wbmiller@syr.edu