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Emily Hawryschuk’s rise to becoming SU’s all-time leader in scoring

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Emily Hawryschuk held the ball just to the left of the goal and began approaching two UAlbany defenders. She faked a pass to Shira Parower and dodged toward the center of the crease, shooting a low shot into the bottom left corner to extend SU’s lead to 11-1.

It marked Hawryschuk’s 261st career goal, putting her at the top of Syracuse’s all-time scoring list. She surpassed her head coach, Kayla Treanor, whose 260 career goals were the record for nearly six years. Averaging just about three goals per game, Hawryschuk broke the record in 87 games, while Treanor scored all her goals in 94.

“She is a huge reason why this place is called AttackerU,” Treanor said after Tuesday’s game. “She’s certainly left a legacy here.”

But for Hawryschuk, the eventual goal remains the same — winning a national championship. She didn’t even celebrate the record-breaking score, instead joining a routine huddle with her team while the referee completed a stick check. Numerous times when asked about accolades, she’s shifted the focus to her teammates and the players that she watched in middle school and high school. Throughout this year, Treanor hasn’t talked to Hawryschuk about the record, but she joked that she “should.”

“(The record) was never anything I would have thought of, but the goal is to win a national championship,” Hawryschuk said postgame on Tuesday.

Hawryschuk led SU in goals each year from 2018-20 and entered this season 52 goals away from the record. Last year, she suffered an ACL injury in February after just one game, but the NCAA permitted Hawryschuk an additional year of eligibility on top of one granted from the pandemic. Hawryschuk got off to a slow start this year, only scoring five goals in SU’s first three games. But since then, she’s recorded nine hat tricks.

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Megan Thompson | Design Editor

Over the course of the season, the All-American has achieved numerous personal and program milestones. Against Cornell, Hawryschuk recorded a career-high 11 points, edging out her previous high of nine set against Northwestern in March. The seven goals against the Big Red also tied her career-high from 2020 against Canisius and put her in second place on the all-time scoring list.

On April 2 against Pittsburgh, Hawryschuk became the fifth player to reach 300 career points in program history, joining Treanor and Katie Rowan Thomson. Still, Hawryschuk sometimes has no idea that she’s hitting these milestones. She learned about jumping from third to second on the scoring list when a reporter asked her about it following the Cornell win.

“She’s never come off a game and told me her stats. Ever,” said Kerrie Brown, Hawryschuk’s former travel coach.

After the Orange’s comeback victory against Duke, Hawryschuk and Brown talked about her footwork on a specific free-position shot. Against the Blue Devils, her attempt had gone too high, but a month later against Cornell, Hawryschuk replicated her foot placement, kept the shot low and scored.

Four days later, following Syracuse’s win over Louisville where Hawryschuk scored another five goals to put her three away from the record, the pair, along with Hawryschuk’s family, went out to dinner. Hawryschuk asked Brown if she planned on attending the UAlbany game. Brown said she wasn’t sure and suggested she could just watch it on television since she coaches a team in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and would have to drive three hours home for a 6 a.m. practice after the game. Hawryschuk responded by subtly mentioning that she was very close to the record. Brown, surprised, never had a clue of how close she was.

It was the first time Brown recalled Hawryschuk asking her if she was coming to a game. Jokingly, Brown said that if she showed up, Hawryschuk had to score.

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Megan Thompson | Design Editor

When asked after the Pitt game about recording 300 points, Hawryschuk acknowledged it, but emphasized that her only goal is to win a national championship for Syracuse. Since Hawryschuk’s arrival, the Orange have reached the NCAA Tournament every year. In the 2021 National Championship game, the Orange fell to Boston College while Hawryschuk was sidelined with an ACL tear.

Last fall, as Hawryschuk was still recovering from the injury, fellow attack Samantha McKenna said she noticed Hawryschuk late after practice with a bucket of balls, just to shoot.

“She’s always the first to show up and last to leave,” McKenna said. “She’s always putting in the extra work. You can tell she’s just a master of her craft.”

Hawryschuk’s first career goal came against Boston College in 2017. Similar to her goals this season, she started her dodge from behind the right side of the goal, wrapping around the crease. She was tightly defended as she approached the center of the crease, and she shot low through goalkeeper Zoe Ochoa’s legs while falling to the ground.

Treanor — then a Boston College assistant — and several Syracuse players said their favorite goal of Hawryschuk’s was in the 2019 Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament semifinals against the Eagles.

SU goalie Asa Goldstock chucked the ball deep down the field. It hit the ground, but no one could get ahold of the ground ball as Hawryschuk, in field hockey style, used the scoop of her stick to guide it inside the 8-meter before diving and swinging with her right hand for a low-rolling shot. “That was a cool one,” Hawryschuk said.

Brown recalled one of the final games Hawryschuk played for her on the Lady Roc travel team. With five seconds remaining, Hawryschuk lined up from the 8-meter and ripped an attempt into the back of the net. And when she was 13 years old at a tournament at UMass, Hawryschuk scored in behind-the-back fashion.

Recently, Brown and Hawryschuk planned to practice together, but Brown realized while driving that she had forgotten to bring a stick. Hawryschuk brought one of her old ones and gifted it to Brown. It now lies in Brown’s car, sometimes making an appearance when Brown warms up her goalkeepers. Brown joked that it can always score goals, comparing it to a wizard’s magic wand.

“To be goal scorers, I don’t think I could teach that,” Brown said.“I think she just has it.”

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