No. 4 Syracuse women’s lacrosse runs away from Pittsburgh in 18-6 win

It took about 15 minutes on Saturday for the Syracuse Orange women’s lacrosse team to get into their game against the Pittsburgh Panthers. But once they did, there was no looking back as they romped their way to an 18-6 win in their first ever meeting with their new ACC foe.

Whatever the reason, the ladies simply started slowly on Saturday. Their play was extremely sloppy as they committed seven first quarter turnovers, while their zone defense wasn’t quite getting the job done, leading to some easy looks for Pitt.

At the conclusion of the first, the Orange head-scratchingly found themselves down, 4-2, to the first-year Panthers. But they switched from zone defense to “woman-to-woman”, started taking better care of the ball, and never looked back.

SU dominated Pitt in the final three quarters, outscoring them 16-2 and showing off the true gulf in talent between the two programs.

The day got off to an exciting start for Emily Hawryschuk, who assisted on the first goal of the game and, in the process, recorded the 300th point of her career. Emily becomes only the fifth player in school history to reach 300 career points, joining Katie Rowan (396), Kayla Treanor (393), Alyssa Murray (362) and Christina Dove (335). Congratulations to Emily on this amazing career milestone!

It was the start of a great day for Hawryschuk, who finished with six points on four goals and two assists, including a couple of sparkling goals that she scored on-the-run away from goal while shooting back across her body. Very few people in the country even attempt those sorts of shorts, let alone cash them in - one of the many aspects that make her such a special player. Emily’s four goals also brought her up to 245 for her career, putting her just 15 behind her head coach for the most goals in Syracuse history.

Joining Emily in leading the offense on the day was Meaghan Tyrrell, who scored a game-high eight points on six goals and two assists. It was the sixth time this season that Meaghan’s scored five goals or more in a single game. That’s half the team’s games; no wonder she was named a first-team midseason All-American by Inside Lacrosse this week!

Emma Tyrrell had another day impacting virtually every phase of the game, finishing with three points (2G, 1A), three draw controls, two caused turnovers and one ground ball. Savannah Sweitzer had her most productive day in an Orange uniform with three points of her own (2G, 1A), while Sam Swart added two points (1G, 1A). Katelyn Mashewske had a rough first half, but turned it around in the second, finishing with 10 draw controls and scoring the first goal of her career right off the opening draw of the second half.

Kimber Hower had her second straight strong performance with seven saves and a .538 save percentage. She might just be catching fire at the perfect time for SU, with a matchup with her old teammates coming next weekend.

The Orange opened up the scoring a few minutes in when Emily Hawryschuk found a cutting Meaghan Tyrrell for the doorstep goal and Emily’s 300th point. After the historic start, the rest of the first quarter was a mess for SU. The Orange couldn’t stop turning the ball over and giving Pitt extra chances, which they happily took advantage of.

The Panthers closed the quarter on a 4-1 run, including a goal with under two seconds left to take a 4-2 lead after the first.

From there, it was all Orange. They switched from zone to woman-to-woman, which completely stifled Pitt the rest of the game. Offensively, they simply cleaned up their sloppiness and started passing and moving better to create real scoring chances that they mostly put away with ease.

The second quarter was all ‘Cuse, who won the quarter 5-0 to take a 7-4 lead into halftime.

Mashewske scored right off the opening draw of the second half to keep the momentum going. Pitt scored their only two goals of the final 45 minutes in the third quarter, but SU still won the quarter emphatically, 7-2. The Orange finished things off in the fourth, scoring the only four goals and starting the running clock to pick up the 18-6 victory.

SU moved to 10-2 and 5-0 in ACC play with the win, but up next is the true test. The Orange will close their four-game homestand next weekend when they host the No. 1 team in the country, the North Carolina Tar Heels, on Saturday, April 9 at 2 PM on ESPN U.