SU Women’s Lacrosse Rolls Past Coastal Carolina

By Jaron May

CitrusTV Women’s Lacrosse Beat Reporter

Even if Syracuse hadn’t won 18 of the 25 draws against Coastal Carolina, the Orange’s aggressive defensive ride allowed it to retain possession throughout most of the contest.

A tell-tale play came ten minutes into the second half when Coastal Carolina’s Madeline Bromley was handling the ball just behind the 30 yard-line. SU’s defensive backer Sarah Cooper came up to slow her down, getting her stick on Bromley’s and forcing the ball out. Cooper picked up the ground ball and went on the fast break, sprinting towards the goal. After a quick give-and-go with Emily Hawryschuk, “Scoop” had her first collegiate goal.

“It was something we will see once in a while out of her because she does get up the field really well and she handles the ball really well,” Head Coach Gary Gait said. “She has the opportunity and the green light to push transition. I’m happy for her.”

That was how the entire game went on Monday night as 12 different SU players scored. The balanced scoring led to an 18-5 blowout victory for Syracuse (3-1, 0-1 Atlantic Coast) against Coastal Carolina (1-1, 0-0 ASUN) .

Gary Gait’s squad has been known for its quick starts this season, but for the first time, the Orange didn’t lead in the first five minutes of play. It was Coastal Carolina’s Haley Kyger who ripped a shot past an outstretched Asa Goldstock to open up the box.

“A little sluggish for the first minute or two, but then we turned it around and got on a roll,” Gait said.

The Orange sure did get on a roll, scoring nine unanswered goals in the next 15 minutes. The freshmen attackers led the early charge as Megan Carney put in back to back goals within 66 seconds of each other and Meaghan Tyrrell added two of her own. Tyrrell would end the game with a team-high four points.

“Our offense is extremely talented with our stickwork, so having good stickwork makes the ball move quicker,” Tyrrell said while explaining how SU starts so quickly. “Also, our lax-IQ is pretty high, so you know which passes to make and when is the time to go to goal versus the time to pull out.”

Syracuse went into halftime with a 13-2 lead, allowing Gait to put in some of his reserves. One of those back-ups was Julie Cross. She has helped the Orange in the draw circle many times this year, but Monday night was the first time she registered a goal this season. Cross was guarded tightly by Hannah Close as she cut in front of the goalkeeper. Seeing a open window in the top left, the senior captain shot back across her body and placed the ball perfectly into the corner.

It was a game of depth for the Orange inside the draw circle too. SU was able to use all four of its draw takers against the Chanticleers with Braelie Kempney making her debut on the draw.

“Having depth on the draw with Chuck, me, Julie, and Braelie, and our draw circle girls are so great this year,”Morgan Widner said. “It’s awesome having so much depth.”

The Orange led in every statistical category on Monday Night, except saves because the Chanticleers only took 11 shots.

Hawryschuk attributed all this success to Gait’s game plan. “Going in with a game plan and executing that game plan, I think that’s where we find the most success,” she said.

The players were happy getting the win and Gait was pleased with his team’s performance, but everyone was already looking ahead just a few minutes after the final whistle blew.

“We are at a point where we are going to hit a tough stage of the schedule. If we can continue what we worked on, we will look at it as a success,” said Gait. “But I think we could have scored a lot more goals if we needed to today.”

The tough stage starts on Sunday as No. 5 Northwestern visits the Salt City. Game time is set for noon.

jmay02@syr.edu | @jaron_may