Mary Rahal was sprinting downfield, stick in hand and held high to keep the ball from falling out. A Virginia defender was on her heels as she approached the net. As she neared the cage, she pulled back, shot and fired the ball over UVA goalie Charlie Campbell’s outstretched arm.

Rahal’s goal sealed the win for No. 4 Syracuse (6-1, 1-1 Atlantic Coast). SU came out strong against No. 6 Virginia (5-1, 0-1) and maintained its control for a majority of the game. The 16-11 win was Syracuse’s third win over a ranked opponent in the last seven days, having beat No. 5 Northwestern and No. 12 Loyola. While the Orange had balanced scoring to start the game with eight different players ending up in the box score, SU had its “usual little lull” as SU head coach Gary Gait called it, a second half slump.

“We didn’t play our best for the full 60-minutes,” Gait said. “I think that shows we have more potential and some things we need to do to get better.”

Eight players scored against the Cavaliers. This, Hawryschuk said, demonstrates how deep the Orange’s offense is. It’s what allows them to put up an average of 15.5 goals a game.

Against Virginia, Syracuse put its balanced offense to use early. The Orange started the game with an early two-goal lead.  Megan Carney’s pass up the middle to Hawryschuk led to the latter scoring the first goal of the game. After Rahal’s shot as she fell to the ground, Syracuse took control of the game early.

In the second half, after Nora Bowen scored Virginia’s first goal more than 10 minutes in, SU’s Cara Quimby received the ball from Carney and shot from five yards out less than a minute after Bowen’s goal. She scored and kept SU two goals ahead.

Almost every time UVA scored, Syracuse responded on its next possession. Four times in the first half, the Cavaliers and the Orange traded goals before SU took complete control and went on a 5-1 scoring run, sending the Orange into the locker room at half up by five goals.

“When other teams score on us,” Rahal said, “we kind of get that mentality like alright they scored on us, they’re getting no more. It’s our time.”

In previous games this season, opponents chipped away at the Orange’s first-half lead while Syracuse’s scoring decreased. Against then-No. 1 Boston College, SU had a 5-1 lead at one point but was outscored 9-5 in the second half and lost. Against Loyola, Syracuse scored 12 in the first half but was outscored 7-3 in the second, the 12 points helping the Orange through the second half.

Against Virginia, it seemed Syracuse had fixed its second-half struggles. Hawryschuk started the half with an early goal, followed by a Rahal-assisted goal by Natalie Wallon. When UVA scored, Hawryschuk responded on the next possession. Then, the Orange took 20 minutes to score, during which, UVA found its opportunity to come back.

Cavaliers’ attack Sammy Mueller lined up for a free position shot in the second half. SU goalie Asa Goldstock banged her stick on the cage’s posts. Mueller wasn’t intimidated by the loud sounds and scored the goal. It was the goal Syracuse was unable to answer because two minutes later, UVA was back on the side of the field with possession, and Ashlyn McGovern converted the possession into the second of a three-goal scoring run.

The Cavaliers cut into SU’s lead. From seven to six to five to four. UVA pinned the Orange on their side of the field. Syracuse turnovers and UVA ground balls helped the Cavaliers maintain possession.

Meaghan Tyrrell ended UVA’s scoring run with a goal, but it didn’t take long for the Cavaliers to go on another. They scored two goals in a little over 20 seconds and shrunk SU’s lead to three – its smallest since the first half.

With four and a half minutes left, Syracuse called a timeout to regroup. Gait reminded the team it was important to end Virginia’s scoring run. It took more than a minute, but Carney did it. She ran up to the goal and fired the ball into the upper corner. Two and a half minutes later, Rahal scored and sealed SU’s third win over a ranked opponent in one week.

“We’re all just clicking so well together and our chemistry is really unbelieveable,” Rahal said. “It’s helping us achieve a lot of success.”

Published on March 2, 2019 at 6:25 pm

Contact Kaci: klwasile@syr.edu