This time around, Dartmouth was hanging with Syracuse.

After being crushed by 18 goals in their regular-season matchup on April 9, the Big Green played the Orange to a halftime tie in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

But SU midfielder Sarah Holden knew she could spark another blowout.

‘After the second half we all came out with a little more of a fire, I guess,’ Holden said. ‘And it just happened to work out. … As a senior it means a lot because it’s playoff time, so it’s just whatever it takes to go on to the next game.’

Rolling right along the eight-meter arc six minutes into the second half, Holden found an opening. She charged down the right alleyway before cutting back to the middle and firing over the shoulder of goalkeeper Kristen Giovanniello.

The score opened the floodgates for the SU offense, starting a second-half rally in which No. 4 Syracuse scored eight of the first nine goals. The Orange (17-3) cruised to a 15-5 victory over Dartmouth (12-5) behind that run in front of 437 in the Carrier Dome on Sunday. Holden scored three goals during the 8-1 run and four overall as the Orange staved off elimination with a big second half.

Syracuse advances to take on No. 5 North Carolina next weekend in the quarterfinals with a berth to the final four on the line. The Tar Heels defeated Navy 14-7 in their first-round game Saturday.

‘It’s nice to see that courage and that ability to want to make the play,’ SU head coach Gary Gait said. ‘That’s the type of leadership we have on this team.’

While Holden’s second half hat trick paced the Orange’s rally, her lone first half goal was perhaps the most important for SU. The midfielder charged down the left side toward the Dartmouth goal, but was met by a double-team from Courtney Bennett and Bailey Johnson.

Holden appeared to be trapped, but somehow forced her way out of the clutches of the DU players to score a diving goal and give Syracuse a 3-2 lead with 6:11 remaining in the first half.

The goal was one of the few bright spots for a stagnant SU offense that had scored just 18 goals over the 165 minutes preceding the second half. The Orange nearly matched that total with 12 goals in just 30 minutes of action after the break.

‘It’s a playoff game so the refs are letting more things go, but we knew that they were an aggressive team from the last game that we played them,’ Syracuse attack Michelle Tumolo said. ‘They’re really aggressive, but I think we adjusted to that in the second half.’

That physical aggression, shown by the 27 total fouls called in the game, perhaps frustrated the Orange more than anything else. In the first half, SU found itself battered as even the Tewaaraton Trophy finalist Tumolo was knocked to the ground several times on shot attempts.

But the Orange matched the Big Green’s intensity in the second half. The right alleyway that Holden and SU attacked throughout the second half wasn’t necessarily any weaker than the other side of the DU defense. The Orange players were just able to stay on their feet through the physicality to get their shots off.

‘They’re a great defensive team,’ Holden said. ‘I think we just had to tell ourselves go hard every time and those cross checks or whatever it was, we just had to persevere through.’

Holden was a shining example of that intensity that rubbed off on some of the younger players. Freshmen Kailah Kempney, Gabby Jaquith and Devon Collins each scored as part of a balanced SU offense.

Even if Holden wasn’t necessarily trying to motivate them directly, Gait felt the young players were affected by the senior’s inspired play.

But for Holden, she’s just happy to live to play another day.

‘As a senior it’s awesome,’ Holden said. ‘Just coming into all the games thinking that it could potentially be your last it’s just a great feeling knowing that there’s one more game, one more week with your teammates.’

dbwilson@syr.edu