Massive 3rd quarter pushes No. 4 Syracuse past Louisville 23-13
SU women's lacrosse routs Louisville 23-13
Emily Hawryschuk nearly secured her hat trick and inched closer to breaking the Syracuse women’s lacrosse program’s all-time record for career goals at the 7:40 mark of the third quarter on a woman-up possession, but she committed a crease violation and Louisville raced up the field with possession. It was a similar scenario to the first half when the Cardinals had silenced Hawryschuk with a face-guard on defense. That prevented her from scoring, or finding open shooting lanes altogether, and she’d remained scoreless with just one shot at halftime as Syracuse led by one.
But one minute later, with SU still holding the extra-woman advantage, Savannah Sweitzer entered the 12-meter with space for a shooting lane, and instead of attempting a shot through that window, she slowed to peel Hawryschuk’s defender — stationed by the left post — toward her. Sweitzer flipped a pass to Hawryschuk, and this time, the SU attack bounced a ball by the Louisville goalie, without a crease violation negating it, and the Orange’s lead extended to 14-10.
The Cardinals kept No. 4 Syracuse’s lead at one after the opening 30 minutes, as the Orange’s offense stalled and wet conditions at the Christian Brothers Academy field created turnovers that negated possessions — even as Katelyn Mashewske won, and kept winning, draw after draw en route to 19, which tied the program record for a single game.
Meaghan Tyrrell’s five goals single-handedly built the lead and made sure it remained intact. But SU pulled away in the final two quarters behind a 13-goal burst in the third and goals from eight others in its 23-13 win over Louisville, as tallies from Hawryschuk (5G), Sweitzer (3G), Jenny Markey (3G) and Olivia Adamson (3G) helped unlock the offense and flash its depth post-injuries at the same time.
“We have seven people and we have depth,” SU attack Tyrrell said. “We can put people on the field, and they can score. We have seven threats.”
The second game in a three-game stretch with unranked opponents — separating the Orange’s toughest test against No. 1 North Carolina and another just as difficult against No. 2 Boston College — nearly turned into a roadblock, though. After Markey converted a free-position shot just over a minute into the game, Syracuse’s next three possessions all ended with turnovers. Sam Swart dropped a rotation pass. Then, Adamson couldn’t connect with Tyrrell.
And entering the first media timeout, Louisville had grabbed an early 2-1 lead when Nicole Perroni beat her defender and weaved to the middle of the 8-meter for a goal.
“A little unfortunate of a start for us,” head coach Kayla Treanor said.
Even as SU’s offense couldn’t convert, Mashewske kept winning draw controls and giving them extra possessions. Mashewske and Treanor said postgame that she wasn’t happy with her performance in the Orange’s win against Cornell earlier in the week, when she controlled 11 draws, and spent time before Friday’s practice correcting those issues. “Kayla just reminded me like back to the basics because that’s how we dominate,” Mashewske said.
Against the Cardinals, her draw controls allowed the Orange to kickstart their offense, especially in the third quarter, to break a close game open and establish their lead. In the first half, Tyrrell kept maneuvering her way to the center of the 8-meter and converting close-range shots past the Louisville goalie, including one with 1:06 left that gave SU its 8-7 lead at halftime.
The Cardinals tied the game to start the third, but that’s when Hawryschuk scored her first of the game by firing a shot from just outside the 8-meter. To make it 13-9, Markey raced to the net after securing the draw control ground ball and scored while getting shoved to the ground. Louisville eventually changed its goalie, but Natalie Smith still scored on a high shot to make it 17-10 before Swart isolated her matchup one-on-one, swinging her stick right as she neared the net and depositing a shot into the mesh.
“That was kind of a game-changer for us on offense,” Tyrrell said. “People were stepping up, taking nice shots and just attacking the defense.”
The Orange’s 10-goal lead at the end of the fourth quarter prompted a running clock that stopped as Louisville momentarily cut into it, including one where Morris ripped a left-handed shot around Kimber Hower for her sixth goal of the game. That stopped the clock for another minute, until Izzy Seikel was called for a foul and Hawryschuk stepped to the 8-meter arc for a free-position shot.
She wound her stick, tucked behind her right shoulder, in a circle as she waited for the whistle. And when it blew, she didn’t take a step. She stood there, feet planted in the ground, and in one motion, blasted a shot into the net — capping the output for an offense that started slow and didn’t include a tally from Hawryschuk until the second half, and scoring one final time past the goalie SU forced into the game during its scoring barrage 15 minutes prior.
Savannah Sweitzer (35) sprints down the field against Louisville.
Natalie Smith (15) scores against Louisville.
is a digital producer for The NewsHouse.
is a photographer for The NewsHouse.
