Women’s LAX explodes in final minutes to seal narrow victory over Notre Dame

SYRACUSE, N.Y — After a three-goal deficit at the half, the Syracuse women’s lacrosse team scored four late back-to-back goals to overtake Notre Dame by one goal, 10-9, at Christian Brothers Academy Sunday afternoon.

Syracuse (10-2, 3-1) entered the second half down 8-5 to the Fighting Irish (9-1, 2-1), but Mary Rahal went on to score a goal assisted by Asa Goldstock to pull the Orange within two of Notre Dame with 27:16 left in the game. Almost exactly 17 minutes later, Notre Dame’s Maddie Howe capitalized on a man-up situation and gave the Irish a three-goal advantage.

But four straight goals from the Orange, including two from Emily Hawyrschuk, put the Orange up one for a lead they wouldn’t relinquish in the last 3:38 of the game.

The first half was Notre Dame’s to dominate. Through eight draw control wins, 10 ground balls and five free-position attempts, the Fighting Irish took control of the board early and often, and the Orange quickly fell behind. Notre Dame’s Howe and Samantha Lynch each found the back of the net three times in the first half, and Howe went on to score the Irish’s lone goal in the second half.

Savannah Buchanan and Andie Aldave of the Fighting Irish did a great job on defense keeping Syracuse away from the net and causing a combined seven turnovers. The Notre Dame offense was aggressive when it needed to be, but ultimately kept the game at their pace for the first 30 minutes of the game.

Goldstock was key in Syracuse’s success this afternoon, saving 11 shots from the Irish — six in the second half. In addition, the Syracuse defense ramped it up in the second half to cause seven of Notre Dame’s 15 total turnovers.

“I thought our defense, again in the second half, really shut things down and gave us a chance to make that run and get a comeback going,” Syracuse head coach Gary Gait said.

Once Sam Swart scored a goal with 7:38 left in the game, the Orange couldn’t stop. Less than two minutes later, Cara Quimby found the back of the net…and then Hawryschuk scored two more goals to complete the quadruple goal barrage. The 5-1 run in the second half was everything Syracuse needed and more.

“Emily (Hawryschuk) came through at the end, buried her last couple of shots and stepped up when we needed her,” Gait said. “I’m proud of this team for making plays when we needed them.”

The Orange return to the Carrier Dome Wednesday night for a matchup against Albany at 6 p.m.