Syracuse defeats James Madison, 13-7, to advance to Championship Weekend
Adam Avin | @_adamavin
CitrusTV Women’s Lacrosse Beat Reporter
SYRACUSE, N.Y. — No. 2 SU (18-2) returns to Championship Weekend for the 9th time in program history, after it took down No. 7 JMU, 13-7. The Orange hosted the Dukes (19-3) in the JMA Wireless Dome, the first time playing back inside their building since April 1st. They were undefeated this year when playing in the Dome, and that didn’t change today. Now, they’re one of the final four teams left in this year’s NCAA tournament.
Even though Syracuse got the job done, it was a fight from the start. James Madison’s Taylor Marchetti gave the Dukes a 1-0 lead, but Syracuse’s Olivia Adamson responded with back-to-back goals in the final two minutes of the first quarter, to put the Orange ahead. Syracuse went into the break up 5-3 with Adamson and Sierra Cockerille combining for all five goals. Eight of Syracuse’s 13 points came in the second half, similar to its last game against Johns Hopkins, where they started off slow but ended up scoring nine goals in the third quarter and ran away with it. After they came back from 1-0, the Orange never trailed again.
Olivia Adamson was a star for the ‘Cuse on offense today, but her presence was felt strongly in the draw circle. Syracuse won the draw battle 15-9, with Adamson having nine of her own, to go along with her four goals and two assists. Other Orange scorers include: Megan Carney (3), Sierra Cockerille (2), Emma Ward (2), Maddy Baxter (1), and Emma Tyrrell (1). Meaghan Tyrrell went scoreless, but made her impact in other ways with two assists. SU had nine assists to JMU’s one.
Syracuse will play the winner of No. 3 Boston College/Notre Dame on Friday, May 26th at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, NC. Follow @_adamavin for tournament/game updates.
