The Orange displayed one of the best performances you will ever see as they put on a clinic versus the Cavaliers.
Everything about the setup indicated we were in for an exciting matchup. No. 4 vs. No. 6. Rematch of a one-goal game in the regular season. ACC Tournament Semifinals.
In the end, it was a different kind of excitement than we anticipated.
On Friday night down in Charlotte, the Syracuse Orange put forth one of the best, most comprehensively dominant performances you will ever see, especially in a game between two top-ranked teams. They systematically dismantled the Virginia Cavaliers, 19-4, in the ACC Semifinals to move on the Sunday’s final against No. 3 seed Boston College.
We’ll see you Sunday‼️ pic.twitter.com/XHWtM9mLvZ
— Syracuse Women’s Lacrosse (@CuseWLAX) April 26, 2024
‘Cuse started extremely fast in this game and never really let up. They scored on their first three possessions, had four goals five minutes into the game, and scored on seven of their first eight shots on their way to an 8-0 lead after the first quarter.
Virginia scored the first goal of the second quarter, and SU responded with five straight to get to halftime with an absurd, 13-1 lead. An Emma Tyrrell goal off a draw win with 9:30 left in the second quarter gave the Orange an 11-1 lead and mind-blowingly started the running clock just over 20 minutes into the game.
If anyone thought things were going to let up with a 12-goal lead in the second half, Natalie Smith put that notion to rest 13 seconds into the third when she scored off the opening draw to add a little insult to injury. While the second half certainly ended up being a closer affair, the Orange still doubled-up the Cavaliers, 6-3, after the break to extend their lead to the improbably decisive final score of 19-4.
Take a at tonight’s highlights. pic.twitter.com/ByxCUofCLY
— Syracuse Women’s Lacrosse (@CuseWLAX) April 27, 2024
It’s honestly hard to figure out which unit had the best performance for SU in this total team domination. Was it an offense that featured nine goal scorers, four hat tricks and a 58 percent shooting day? Was it a defense that held UVA to four goals and almost as many turnovers as total shots? Or was it a draw unit that gave new meaning to the word ‘domination’?
Let’s start with the draw controls, since that’s the origin point of this game titling towards SU. There are games in which a team dominates on draw controls, and then there’s what Kate Mashewshe (16DC) and the ‘Cuse draw unit did in this game.
The Orange won draw controls, 22-3. That’s 88 percent.
The possession disparity in this game was stark to say the least, and it all started at the center circle. Mashewske, who during the Louisville game became just the ninth player in Division I history to reach 500 career draw controls, spent the entire night popping the ball up over her shoulder to herself. It’s how she was able to grab 16 of SU’s 22 draws, and Virginia had no answer for her no matter how many different players they stuck in against her (three, I think? Maybe more).
We you Olivia Adamson!
ACC Network pic.twitter.com/1kcnEEbBGo
— Syracuse Women’s Lacrosse (@CuseWLAX) April 26, 2024
Once they got the ball, the Orange offense valued their possession about as well as I’ve seen in a long time, taking advantage of almost every opportunity they got.
In the first quarter, the Cavs came out in a zone defense, which was a huge mistake. ‘Cuse attacked that zone with expert-level precision; almost as if they practice against a zone every day.
Their passing was crisp and on-point, their skip passes were well executed, and their off-ball movement was purposeful and well-timed. They scored on seven of their first eight shots, and eight of their 12 possessions in the first quarter.
As a result of all that, Virginia switched to a man defense late in the first, which didn’t really work that much better. The Orange were still able to find open space against the man, and by the mid-second quarter, UVA switched right back to the zone as their deficit reached double-digits.
It wasn’t just the Wahoos’ zone and man defenses that SU’s offense was able to flourish against. They also had a tremendous day scoring on free positions (7-of-10) and the power play (3-of-4), two areas of weakness against Louisville on Wednesday. They scored in transition, as well, and three times they scored directly off a draw win.
Nine players scored a goal, and four players recorded hat tricks. Emma Tyrrell (3G, 2A) once again led the way with five points, while Olivia Adamson (4G) led the team in goals and Emma Ward (3G, 1A) matched her in points with four. Natalie Smith (3G) made it four players with a hat trick and Maddy Baxter (2G) made it five with multiple goals.
Savannah Sweitzer (1G), Emma Muchnick (1G), Joely Caramelli (1G) and Gracie Britton (1G) all tallied goals, as well.
Emma Ward becomes the 4th ‘Cuse player with a hat trick today!
ACC Network pic.twitter.com/Mb9GK9Ly28
— Syracuse Women’s Lacrosse (@CuseWLAX) April 26, 2024
Lastly, the defense had a spectacular day in holding the ‘Hoos to 10 goals below their season average with four. They certainly had less to do on their end of the field simply because of the possession disparity, but they dominated when they were called upon.
They held UVA to an incredible five shots in the entire first half, and only 15 total shots for the whole game. Meanwhile, the Cavs turned the ball over almost as much as they shot it with 12 turnovers, 10 of which were given as caused turnovers to the ‘Cuse defense.
They had a particularly good day stick-checking ball carriers and deflecting passes, leading to yet another game of double-digit caused turnovers for a team averaging as much for the entire season.
Katie Goodale (2CT) and Kaci Benoit (2GB, 2CT) led the way with a pair of caused turnovers each, but eight different players were credited with a CT in this game. Goodale is now just two CT’s away from tying the program record for a career (Bridget Looney, 101).
The Orange advance to the ACC Championship game, where they will face their arch-nemesis, the Boston College Eagles, on Sunday at 12 PM on the ACC Network.