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In its last three games, Syracuse began with six, five and seven goals, respectively, in the first quarter. But on its first possession Saturday versus Clemson, SU worked the ball around and faltered as the clock winded down, eventually turning it over when it went to goal.

After not finding the back of the net for the first five minutes of the game, Maddy Baxter quickly dished left to right to Olivia Adamson who passed to Payton Rowley. The junior beat Clemson goalie Emily Lamparter to get SU on the board. Clemson tied the game 1-1 with a goal from Claire Bockstie, but the Orange closed the quarter on a 5-0 run, replicating its previous successes.

In its first-ever visit to Clemson, No. 2 Syracuse (12-3, 8-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) defeated Clemson (9-6, 2-6 ACC) 15-6 to extend its win streak to nine and clinch at least a share of the ACC regular season title. SU’s 8-0 run across the first two quarters and a 17-6 overall lead on the draw put the game out of reach early while its defense notched its third straight game holding an opponent under seven goals.

The Orange can earn sole control of the ACC regular season title with a Boston College loss to Virginia Saturday night or a win over BC Thursday in Chestnut Hill. For SU head coach Kayla Treanor, her defense’s performance versus Clemson will be sorely needed versus the Eagles.

“The defense did a really great job,” Treanor said postgame. “We’re gonna need that for sure. Especially if we’re off in shooting.”

Following its win over then-No. 9 North Carolina on March 16, SU played a midweek game every week since. Saturday was the first time since then that Syracuse had an entire week to prepare for a game. As its biggest game of the season looms on April 18, Clemson was Syracuse’s last obstacle to enter the matchup with Boston College undefeated in ACC play.

“We’ve been really able to dial in specifically to Clemson this week,” SU midfielder Emma Muchnick said Wednesday. “Obviously, BC is coming up, but really we’re trying to go one game at a time.”

Looking to spoil SU’s plans and for their best win in program history, the Tigers took control early with a draw control from freshman Natalie Shurtleff. Clemson entered the contest with a 60.3% draw control percentage, slightly better than SU’s 57.7% mark.

The Tigers worked the ball around but Syarcuse’s zone defense quickly swallowed them up before Delaney Sweitzer caused a turnover. On the other end, Syracuse’s wasn’t as explosive as it had recently been to start. It began with a few wasted possessions.

Rowley got the Orange going with a goal but Clemson’s leading scorer Bockstie tied it just two minutes later. After a stalemate for the next four minutes, SU broke out.

First, just over three minutes left in the first, Adamson found the back of the net twice, giving the Orange a 3-1 advantage. Following losing the first draw control, Kate Mashewske helped SU win the final seven of the opening quarter. Meanwhile, Emma Ward, Baxter and Emma Tyrrell scored over the final two-and-a-half minutes, ballooning the lead to 6-1 entering the second quarter.

SU’s dominance trickled into the second quarter. Rowley tallied her second of the day just 18 seconds in. Then Ward and Tyrrell both notched their seconds of the day, extending Syracuse’s run to 8-0 across the first two quarters.

Tyrrell entered the game averaging 5.25 goals per game through her last four. While she had little trouble scoring versus the Tigers, Tyrrell also made an impact with her facilitating. She tallied three assists and two goals as part of the Orange’s scoring run in her game-high six-point day.

Clemson threatened but nothing got past Sweitzer from the 7:05 mark in the first to the 6:12 in the second. Sweitzer made her presence known by picking off multiple passes to X throughout the run, giving SU added possessions while thwarting the Tigers’ attack.

“We like to be aggressive, we like to get the ball back and create a lot of causes turnovers, it’s just the style that we play,” Treanor said Wednesday.

Syracuse’s run ended with its top defender Katie Goodale on the sidelines. Goodale received a yellow card, giving Clemson a player-up. The Tigers took advantage with the Tewaaraton watch list member sidelined. Caitlin McElwee finished a feed from Shannon Brazier to break the over-15-minute drought.

Blair Byrne added another a minute later to cut the deficit to six and extend SU’s scoring drought. The Orange struggled to find the back of the net after Tyrrell’s goal at the 11:15 mark.

With under a minute to go in the half, Ward found Natalie Smith cutting right to left across the crease with a nifty pass over the Clemson defender’s head. Smith shot and scored, giving the Orange a 10-3 lead at the half.

In the second half, after an opening goal from Clemson’s Brazier, Savannah Sweitzer became SU’s seventh goal scorer of the day. Minutes later, Gracie Britton dished to Rowley who notched her third goal of the day — her second hat trick in as many games. The junior tied a season-high with four goals.

Syracuse’s attack went on another long scoring drought throughout the final two quarters, due to sloppy play and inaccurate shooting.

“We really just did not shoot the ball well at all today,” Treanor said. “It’s something we’re gonna have to get better at.”

Though the Orange’s defense put up another strong quarter, holding Clemson out of the net from the 14:50 mark of the third to the 13:23 mark of the fourth. After Jasmine Stanton scored early in the fourth, the Tigers didn’t score again until just over four minutes left.

While it wasn’t perfect, SU slowly chipped away and killed the clock. Its defense held Clemson down while the attack added on, making the early 8-0 run far too much to overcome.

Syracuse took care of business versus Clemson and now visits Chestnut Hill with a chance to finish undefeated in ACC regular season play for the first time in program history and its first-ever outright regular season championship.

“There’s a lot of things that we need to improve on before we play a really good team on Thursday,” Treanor said postgame. “This will be a good trip back and a good couple of days for us to get better.”

Published on April 13, 2024 at 2:31 pm

Contact Aiden at: amstepan@syr.edu | @AidenStepansky