Syracuse remains at No. 3 in IL rankings after Duke win, loss to Northwestern
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After splitting both games last week with a 16-15 loss to then-No. 6 Northwestern and 18-16 win over then-No. 7 Duke, Syracuse stayed at No. 3 in the weekly Inside Lacrosse poll. For the fifth consecutive week, the Orange still sit behind Atlantic Coast Conference rivals No. 1 Boston College and No. 2 North Carolina.
Last Tuesday, Northwestern handed Syracuse its first defeat of the season after a three-second violation in overtime conceded a free-position opportunity, which Lauren Gilbert converted. The Orange managed a 6-0 run to start the second half after trailing 8-5 at halftime. Emily Hawryschuk’s sixth goal with 4:23 left in the fourth quarter secured her career-high nine points and gave the Orange a 15-12 lead. But SU blew its three-goal lead as the Wildcats ended the game on a 4-0 run led by Gilbert and Jill Girardi, who dominated the Orange on the draw.
On Sunday against the Blue Devils, Syracuse returned to the Carrier Dome and trailed 9-2 at the end of the first quarter and 12-8 at the half. But in the second half, SU limited the Blue Devils to just four goals in goalkeeper Kimber Hower’s first career start. It was the first time head coach Kayla Treanor played one goalkeeper for all 60 minutes.
In the third quarter, Meaghan Tyrrell ignited Syracuse’s comeback and she scored four of her five goals in that quarter alone. And her fifth in the fourth quarter gave Syracuse a 16-14 lead, one that it wouldn’t concede as SU came back and stole a victory away from the Blue Devils in its second conference win of the season. Megan Carney also scored five goals on the afternoon, her most goals in a game this season.
Starting Saturday, the Orange will complete its longest road trip of the season with matches against No. 14 Virginia, No. 12 Florida and Virginia Tech. SU defeated Virginia Tech twice last season while picking up one win each over the Gators and Cavaliers. The match against Florida will be a rematch of last year’s NCAA Quarterfinal, where the Orange won 17-11.
