Get the latest Syracuse news delivered right to your inbox. Subscribe to our sports newsletter here.

Whether it’s been playing in overtime (then-No. 9 Maryland and then-No. 15 Stony Brook), trailing early and failing to come back (then-No. 1 Northwestern), completing a comeback (then-No. 2 Notre Dame) or winning complete games (then-No. 18 Army, Duke and Virginia Tech), Syracuse has faced almost every imaginable game script in 2024.

More recently, SU played with a lead. In two of their last three games before taking on North Carolina Saturday, the Orange never trailed Duke or Virginia Tech, as they outscored both teams 30-13 across the two wins. Hosting UNC, the Orange commanded a lead for all but the first minute and 25 seconds of the game.

“Today, we knew we had a lead (and) we’ve been learning this skill of how to play with the lead,” Syracuse head coach Kayla Treanor said postgame. “I thought today we did a great job of that.”

In wire-to-wire fashion, No. 7 Syracuse (5-3, 4-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) defeated No. 9 North Carolina (6-3, 2-2 ACC) 20-5 — the Tar Heels’ largest single-game defeat in program history. The Orange outscored North Carolina in every quarter, marking the first time they’ve accomplished that in a game this season.

“We really pushed for four full quarters and we really put together a complete game,” Treanor said.

After the opening draw, it looked like UNC was going to be the team that started strong — just as it did when it thrashed SU in the ACC Tournament last season. Right after Alyssa Long controlled the draw, she drew a green card on a foul from Katie Goodale five seconds into the game.

Even with a player-up advantage to start the game, SU’s stifling zone defense — which surrendered a season-low five goals — prevented North Carolina from getting a shot on goal. After SU midfielder Natalie Smith caused a turnover, Maddy Baxter picked up the groundball and stormed down the field.

As she reached the 12-meter, Baxter fed the ball to Smith. After making a move to get to her right, Smith — Syracuse’s second-leading goal scorer — scored the game’s first goal and her first of four on the day.

Just as it did when it outscored then-No. 18 Army 8-2 in the first quarter on Feb. 14 in its 18-7 win, Syracuse scored the first goal of the game following a stop from its defense.

From there, SU’s draw control took over. Smith proceeded to win the draw after her goal, and though she missed wide on a quick shot attempt and Emma Tyrrell also couldn’t find the back of the net, Syracuse retained possession.

On their third chance, the Orange got the ball to Emma Ward at X. Coming off a game in which she scored a season-high three goals and also notched a season-high six points, Ward continued her dominance against the Tar Heels. She bullied her way into the crease before scoring, notching her first of five points of the game.

Following the goal, Goodale won the draw and helped Syracuse quickly set up its offense. After working the ball around the 12-meter, SU found Olivia Adamson — its leading goal scorer — on the left side. As Smith did, Adamson made a move to her right before sniping a shot past UNC goalie Alecia Nicholas, giving the Orange a 3-0 lead three minutes into the game.

Though SU won the next draw control, it couldn’t quickly get up the field as it had previously done. Yet, Syracuse’s defense successfully cleared the ball, leading to Emma Muchnick’s third goal of the season on a fastbreak.

On the following draw, Smith controlled her second of the game and got Syracuse’s offense into UNC’s defense quickly. Seventeen seconds later, Baxter became SU’s fifth goal scorer — eight players scored across the game — giving it a 5-0 lead four minutes in.

“Today was just a great day, it’s why these kids come and play here at Syracuse,” Treanor said.

The Tar Heels won the next draw after they called a timeout, but they fired two missed shots before SU freshman Kaci Benoit caused a turnover.

While the Orange’s offense couldn’t be stopped throughout the first four minutes, North Carolina’s defense buckled down throughout the rest of the quarter, not allowing another goal.

Even with its offense no longer dominating, Syracuse’s defense was unfazed, nearly holding its opponent scoreless in the first quarter for the second straight game. A last-minute goal from UNC’s Long gave SU a 5-1 lead after the first quarter.

Payton Rowley ended Syracuse’s 13-minute scoring draught by firing a shot from the turf that clanged into the back of the net off the pipe to give SU a 6-1 lead two minutes into the second quarter. Five minutes later, Ward became SU’s first player with two or more goals at the 8:41 mark giving the Orange a 7-1 lead.

From there, the Tar Heels went on their first scoring run of the game, cutting Syracuse’s lead to four over the next four and a half minutes on goals from Long and Eva Ingrilli.

But unlike they did twice in their overtime loss to Stony Brook on March 5, the Orange didn’t allow the scoring run to go beyond two goals. With two minutes remaining in the first half, Tyrrell became Syracuse’s sixth goal scorer and helped it take an 8-3 lead into halftime.

After SU’s game versus Army, Treanor was upset with her team’s third-quarter effort as they only scored two goals coming out of halftime. Against UNC, two goals from Adamson and freshman Joely Caramelli’s first gave the Orange an 11-3 lead four and a half minutes into the third quarter.

Over the next six minutes, Syracuse extended its run to 6-0 on two goals from Tyrrell — who scored a game-high five — and Muchnick’s second goal of the game. UNC scored its first goal of the second half at the 2:57 mark of the third quarter, but Tyrrell’s fourth goal gave Syracuse a 15-4 lead heading into the fourth.

Throughout the fourth quarter, the Orange continued their dominance — an area they struggled versus Duke and Virginia Tech. Despite dominating wins, Syracuse was outscored 6-4 across those fourth quarters.

Yet in the final 15 minutes against the Tar Heels, SU tacked on five goals, helping it score a season-high 20 goals in its most complete game of the season.

“That was probably our best game of the season,” Treanor said. “I’m really proud of them and I think we’re headed in a really great direction.”

Published on March 16, 2024 at 2:42 pm

Contact Justin: justingirshon@gmail.com | @JustinGirshon