Observations from SU’s ACC Tournament win over Virginia Tech: 1st quarter struggles, missed shots
Get the latest Syracuse news delivered right to your inbox. Subscribe to our sports newsletter here.
Syracuse’s 15-game win streak and undefeated record came to an end at the hands of Boston College on April 20th with a 17-16 loss. A win would’ve made the Orange Atlantic Coast Conference champions, but instead they’re co-champions with the Eagles and the No. 2 seed in the conference tournament.
SU was dominating Boston College for most of the game. Syracuse took the lead at the beginning of the first frame and held it until deep into the fourth quarter, at one point leading by six. But, the Weeks sisters led a huge late-game comeback, evening up the score with six minutes remaining. Two quick goals in the final moments of the contest put the Eagles ahead by one – and Syracuse failed to claw back.
With a bad taste in its mouth heading into the conference tournament, Syracuse defeated Virginia Tech 14-12 in Charlotte, North Carolina on Wednesday, setting up a semifinals matchup with either UNC or Clemson. The Orange got off to a slow start, only up 2-1 after one quarter and 6-5 after two. They began to separate in the third period, earning a four goal lead. The team fended off the Virginia Tech for the rest of the contest, despite the Hokies narrowing the lead down to one late.
Here are a few observations from Syracuse’s (16-1, 9-1 ACC) 14-12 victory over Virginia Tech (10-9, 3-6 ACC):
Flat first quarter
Given Syracuse routed Virginia Tech 16-5 in March, the Orange were expected to get out to a hot start fresh off their first loss of the season. But that was far from the case. Syracuse had its smallest halftime lead of 2023 against the No. 7 seed Hokies on Wednesday.
Tied at zero early in the opening quarter, VT’s Jordan Tilley checked Emma Tyrrell’s stick, taking the ball away from her. The Hokies drove into Syracuse’s zone and worked with possession for about a minute-and-a-half.
Eventually, Hokies attacker Hannah Mardiney passed the ball from behind the right post to Blair Guy cutting toward the cage. Guy caught it in motion, drifted to her left and put it past Delaney Sweitzer’s top left shoulder.
A few minutes later, Virginia Tech’s Ella Rishko took a powerful shot right at Sweitzer, who got in front of it. But, it bounces off of her and trickled towards the goal line. The refs originally called it a goal and 2-0 Hokies, but upon further review, Sweitzer had stopped it before it crossed the line.
The Orange eventually surged back to end the period up 2-1. But still, SU had three turnovers and couldn’t convert on two consecutive player-up chances in the first quarter.
Uncharacteristic misses
Syracuse went into Wednesday leading the nation in shooting percentage at 52%. Against VT, the Orange were peppering the net with shots. The team had 11 shots on goal going into the half, three more than the Hokies.
But, SU recorded just a 35% shooting percentage in the first half, scoring just two goals on seven shots in the first period.
This was apparent especially when the Tyrrell sisters had some rare misses. Midway through the first period, Emma Ward dished to Emma in front of the net, but her close shot ricocheted off VT goalie Jocelyn Torres’ left knee. Minutes later, Meaghan drove toward the net within the 8-meter and took a hard shot that rung the post.
Another Sierra hat trick
Sierra Cockerille notched her first hat trick since February 2022 against BC last week. She followed that up with another against Virginia Tech and she secured it halfway through the third period. The graduate student also found the back of the net on each of her first three shots.
Her first goal came with five minutes left in the second quarter. She fielded a short pass from Megan Carney behind the net and swung around the left side of cage. With her back to the net, she faked right and pivoted back towards the left post. Cockerille rifled a close shot past Torres to put the Orange up 5-4.
Barely two minutes into the second half, Meaghan received pass from Olivia Adamson next to the right post. She quickly turned to her right and found Cockerille on the opposite post. Cockerille finished with a routine shot to extend the lead to 7-5.
Later in the period, Meaghan set up Cockerille again – this time at the top of the 12-meter. Cockerille looked to dish, but ran diagonally towards the right side of the goal. She stepped past her defender before ripping a shot in for the score to give Syracuse its biggest lead of the day at 9-5.
Clutch Meaghan
Meaghan had been helping her teammates score goals all day. She racked up three assists in the first three quarters, but as the fourth quarter began to wind down she was still scoreless.
After Guy scored her fifth goal of the game to put the score at 12-11 with 6:27 left in the final quarter, Meaghan finally got going.
Roughly 20 seconds later, a string of Syracuse passes eventually had Emma get the ball near the left post. She hopped up with her stick high in the air to fit it past defender and find Meaghan in front of the net. Within feet of Torres, Meaghan placed the ball in to restore the two-goal lead.
Less than a minute after that, Savannah Sweitzer flipped a pass to Meaghan at the top of the 12-meter. She ran left past defenders and took a side arm shot over Torres for a goal, giving the Orange a 14-11 lead.
