With a tough loss to the No. 1 Boston College Eagles on Saturday afternoon, the Syracuse Orange women’s lacrosse team had little time to mull over the setback with another game just 48 hours later. The Orange defeat still impressed both polls as the Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) coaches poll and the Inside Lacrosse Women’s Cascade media polls both bumped SU into the top 10 this week, with No. 8 and No. 7 rankings, respectively.
SU (3-1, 0-1 ACC) celebrated the move with an 18-5 thrashing of of an outmatched Coastal Carolina squad (1-1) on Monday evening in the Dome. It was the first ever meeting between the programs.
The Orange might have been shaking off a little fatigue from Saturday as both teams made a number of mistakes that limited the scoring in the first nine minutes. The Chanticleers drew first blood five minutes into the game when Haley Kyger put a shot past Asa Goldstock for a 1-0 lead. SU freshman attacker Meaghan Tyrrell responded about 45 seconds later to knot it up at 1 with 24:28 left in the half.
From that point on, it was all Syracuse as they added onto Tyrrell’s goal with the next eight scores (as well as the first 10 draw controls of the game) to take a 9-1 lead with 10:10 left in the half. The run was broken up only by a Chanticleer goal at the 9:28 mark before the Orange scored four more to take a 13-2 halftime lead.
The scoring slowed down in the second half as the reserves were cycled in, but Coastal Carolina could not find any traction. SU extended their lead to 14 twice at 17-3 and 18-4 on goals by Sierra Cockerille and Cara Quimby before the Chanticleers finished off the scoring with a late goal.
SU would eventually have 12 players get into the goal column, including one by freshman defender Sarah Cooper. At the 19:50 mark of the second half, Cooper scooped the ball up after a Chanticleer failed clear and moved towards the goal with a two on one opportunity. She passed off to Emily Hawryschuk, who pulled Coastal Carolina defender Emily D’Dorsaneo towards her. The give and go worked perfectly as the junior attacker tossed the ball back to Cooper who fired it past Chanticleer goalie Regan McComb for her first goal as an Orange. Given how unusual it is to see a player from the backline get in the scoring column, it was worth noting.
Stats
- Shots: Syracuse 33, Coastal Carolina 11
- Shots on Goal: Syracuse 24, Coastal Carolina 9
- Turnovers: Coastal Carolina 19, Syracuse 14
- Clears: Syracuse 11-13, Coastal Carolina 8-16
- Ground Balls: Syracuse 26, Coastal Carolina 17
- Draw Controls: Syracuse 18, Coastal Carolina 7
- Free Position Shots: Syracuse 5-11, Coastal Carolina 0-0
Tyrrell (3 g, 1 a, 4 gb), Morgan Alexander (3 g), Hawryschuk (1 g, 2 a, 1 gb, 1 dc), Nicole Levy (1 g, 2 a, 1 ct), Megan Carney (2 g, 1 gb, 1 ct), Sam Swart (2 g, 1 gb), Cooper (1 g, 2 gb, 3 dc), Vanessa Costantino and Julie Cross (1 g, 1 gb, 2 dc each), Cockerille (1 g, 1 gb, 1 ct), Mary Rahal and Quimby (1 g each), Allyson Trice (3 gb, 2 ct), Ella Simkins (2 gb, 1 ct, 3 dc), Natalie Wallon (2 gb, 2 ct, 2 dc), Emily Resnick (1 gb, 1 ct, 1 dc), Morgan Widner (3 dc), Kerry Defliese and Lauren Gray (1 gb, 1 ct each), Alexa Radziewicz (1 ct), Mackenzie Baker, Grace Fahey and Molly Carter (1 gb each), Braelie Kempney (1 dc), Goldstock (1 gb, 1 save), Bri Stahrr (3 saves)
Big Factors
Draw Controls: It was a mismatch from the beginning as the Orange won the first 10 of the game and finished the evening with an 18-7 advantage. That coincided with their 9 goal run through the first half and Coastal Carolina had very few opportunities for a shot, let alone a score as SU outshot the Chanticleers 26-3 by the break.
Meaghan Tyrrell: The freshman attacker continues to impress with a hat trick on Monday evening. She is now tied for second with Levy in overall points on the year so far (13) and 2nd on the team in goals scored with 8. She has quickly established herself as an impact player for the Orange.
The Orange Ride: Clears were a major problem for Coastal Carolina and they struggled all evening under considerable Syracuse pressure. The Chanticleers had 19 turnovers in the game and had only a 50% clear rate (8-16 for the game). This contributed to Coastal Carolina’s offensive struggles throughout the game.
Up Next
Syracuse will host another big game against No. 5/4 Northwestern (3-0) on Saturday afternoon at noon in the Dome. The Wildcats have had a very prolific offensive showing this year so far with 63 goals in 3 games with wins over Louisville (21-11), Dartmouth (21-15) and a come from behind win over Duke (21-20) on Sunday. The Blue Devils led by as much as 5 in that game and had a 20-18 lead with four minutes left before Northwestern pulled off three straight goals (including 2 in the last 80 seconds) to win.
It’s a balanced attack with a half dozen players making major scoring contributions. Their top scorer, sophomore midfielder Lauren Gilbert leads the team with 12 goals. Senior attacker Selena Lasota, another scoring threat (7 goals so far in 2 games), was sidelined with an injury very early (7 minutes in) in their second game against Dartmouth and did not play on Sunday against Duke. It’s unclear whether she will see action on Saturday against the Orange. Northwestern won last year 14-10 in Evanston, Ill.