After scoring just one goal in her past four games, Megan Carney knew that she needed to pick up her play. The freshman attack already had a five-game, multi-goal streak earlier this season, and knew she was capable of more.

“I woke up and I was like, ‘I need to play well today, I need to get my head out of my ass,’” Carney said. “I guess that’s what happened.”

Carney broke out of her recent slump on Wednesday, notching career-highs with four goals and five assists to help push No. 3 Syracuse (13-2, 5-1 Atlantic Coast) past Virginia Tech (8-6, 1-3), 14-13. Her nine points are two more than any other SU player has tallied in a game this season, while her five assists also mark a season-high for an Orange player. Both totals are more than Carney had in her last six games combined, and every point was important in Syracuse’s fourth one-goal victory of the season.

It took little time for her to earn her first point of the game, as she found Mary Rahal just 58 seconds into the game. Her first goal came two minutes later, after Nicole Levy rebounded a shot that went awry and set up her fellow attack to put Syracuse up 2-0. When her second goal, off a feed from Meaghan Tyrrell, found the back of the net with just under 22 minutes left in the first half, the SU bench exploded with cheers.

“Yee-haw!” They yelled. “Yeah country Meg!”

Carney, a McKinney, Texas native, was hit in the head and pushed down on the play, but it didn’t affect her. To end the first half, Levy pump faked a pass before dishing it to Carney, who dropped in her third goal of the game.

SU head coach Gary Gait attributed her success in part to the defensive formation the Hokies used throughout. They employed four players to defend Syracuse’s three midfielders, allowing one of the Orange attack to be left unguarded at all times. More often than not that attack ended up being Carney, who stationed herself behind the goal in order to facilitate the offense.

“The way the defense played, she got to play quarterback,” Gait said. “She was aggressive early and things were going for her. We need players to step up in situations like this where they were giving us the advantage coming from behind the goal, and she took advantage of it.”

When Virginia Tech cut Syracuse’s lead to three late in the first half, Carney used her “quarterback” position to give the Orange some breathing room heading into halftime. First, she found Tyrrell rolling to the front of the net to push SU’s lead back up to four. Then she followed up Levy’s pair of assists with one of her own, finding the senior for a slick goal with 17 seconds left in the half.

Her five assists has her up to 16 on the season, second on the team behind Levy, while her 21 goals rank fifth on the Orange. Her versatility has impressed Tyrrell, who noted that Carney can both shoot off the run and pass off a feed. Tyrrell is one half of Syracuse’s high-scoring, freshman duo, but the team’s offense is undoubtedly led by Emily Hawryschuk, whose 51 goals are more than anyone else on the team has points. Even Hawryschuk was in awe of Carney’s play on Wednesday, though.

“I don’t think I ever had nine points (as a freshman), so she already has me beat there,” Hawryschuk said. “She’s an awesome player, she’s very smart, she executes every game, so it’s awesome to see her excel.”

The freshman starred at the start of the second half, when Carney scored on an empty-net, free-position shot and then assisted on a Hawryschuk goal. She finished her performance the same way she started it, with an assist on Syracuse’s last goal of the game.

“She has that potential, that’s why she plays,” Gait said. “She’s got unbelievable talent, she’s got great potential, and today she delivered on it.”

Published on April 3, 2019 at 8:06 pm

Contact Eric: erblack@syr.edu | @esblack34