Women’s LAX grabs fifth straight win after crushing Albany

Following an incredibly close matchup with Notre Dame on Sunday, the Syracuse women’s lacrosse team came out firing on all cylinders, winning a matchup against Albany 19-7.

Syracuse scored the first goal of the night and then jumped out to a 7-1 lead in the first 17 minutes of the game.

If any goal was to foreshadow the night ahead, it was the first goal scored by Nicole Levy. Knees on the turf, Meaghan Tyrrell made a stellar pass to Levy, who finished off the play with an over-the-shoulder shot that somehow found the back of the net. It might have only been a one-goal lead, but from that point on, the Orange was in control.

Whereas Albany’s offense often struggled to get in close to the net and was forced to make long, slow passes, Syracuse was quite the opposite. The Orange offense was often able to get past the Great Danes defenders much more easily, operating at much closer proximity to their goal. Tighter, quicker interior passing also gave the Orange more opportunities for open shots.

“I thought from the beginning we stepped up and did what we needed to do to have success,” Syracuse head coach Gary Gait said. “Again, the defense (was) getting multiple turnovers. After a few missed shots, we got our offense going and our shooting percentage went up.”

In fact, the Orange women recorded 26 shots on goal, 19 of which came in the first half. Albany, on the other hand, only got off ten shots on goal, five coming in each half. There was a huge discrepancy in draw controls, too, as Syracuse finished the game with 20, compared to Albany’s seven.

Once halftime rolled around, it was clear that such a disparity was not only in the numbers, but also how each team looked with the ball in their possession. Albany would need to make some drastic changes to even have a chance at coming back. With so many more opportunities at the net, the Orange entered the locker room with a 12-4 lead at the half.

The most important reason that Syracuse was able to so effectively control the game for all 60 minutes was the fact that their intensity never faltered. Even when they were ahead 11-3 with only minutes left in the half, Emily Hawryschuk dove in front of the goal, body horizontal with the ground, in an attempt to slip the ball past the Great Danes goaltender, though the shot missed just wide. Still, the effort was there and was one reason for Syracuse’s dominant performance.

Having a such a balanced scoring attack too did not hurt, as 11 different Orange players made their way onto the scoreboard, with several notable goals being recorded. It was no surprise to Levy, however.

“With the talent that we have and the depth that we have, it’s not [a] shock that it’s that many people that are getting on the board,” Levy said.

Sophomore Mackenzie Baker and freshman Georgia Pesot scored the final two Syracuse goals of the game, each marking their first of the season, which resulted in plenty of cheering on the Orange sidelines. Julie Cross also made a quite an impact, more than doubling her total number of goals scored coming into the game. While she only started the game with two goals, she scored her third, fourth and fifth goals of the season over the course of the night.

The Orange will face Duke at noon on Saturday in Durham.