For Syracuse’s final game in its three-game road trip, the Orange traveled to Louisville to face a conference opponent, its first in four games. Louisville, one of the two teams in the Atlantic Coastal Conference not ranked in the top-20, had only beat Syracuse once before Sunday afternoon’s matchup.

It remained that way after Sunday’s game. No. 4 Syracuse (8-2, 2-1 ACC) defeated the Cardinals (4-7, 0-3), 14-7. SU’s defense held UofL to two goals through the first fifty minutes and its offense went on an 8-0 run in the middle of the game.

“Our defense once again led the way,” SU head coach Gary Gait said, “shutting them down, holding them to a goal in the first half. Then our offense heated up a little bit.”

The Orange scored first. Megan Carney caught a pass from Meaghan Tyrrell and scored to put SU on the board. It took five minutes and three turnovers for Syracuse’s offense to find its rhythm.

Junior Emily Hawryschuk was awarded a free position shot. She scored and, a minute later, scored again. Two minutes later, Mary Rahal was awarded a free position shot as well which she capitalized on for SU’s fifth goal of the game.

During that time, Louisville got its only goal of the first half when Alex McNicholas scored from an assist by Kayla Marshall.

Susie Teuscher | Digital Design Editor

Syracuse scored four more times before the end of the first half and then four more to start the second. Hawryschuk led Syracuse’s scoring with five goals, including three of the first four goals of the second half.

Louisville scored once more before the 50-minute mark. SU goalie Bri Starr came in after that to replace Asa Goldstock who had nine saves.

“They played good zone, tough team defense,” Gait said. “Asa made some saves and everything worked out.”

In the last ten minutes, the tide of the game turned. Syracuse only scored twice more, both by junior Morgan Alexander, before Louisville went on a 5-0 run to end the game.

The 14 goals scored by the Orange were helped by its dominance on the draw control. At other points this season, SU struggled to win draws and gain possessions. Against Louisville, Syracuse was 15-6. Hawryschuk and freshman Braelie Kempney took a majority of the draws.

“We’ve been working hard, grinding hard on that,” Gait said. “It clicked a little bit today against that team.”

Syracuse returns home for its next opponent, Harvard, on Tuesday afternoon.

Published on March 17, 2019 at 4:15 pm

Contact Kaci: klwasile@syr.edu