Second-Half Scoring Run Sinks Sea Wolves

Sunday, May 15

Newton, Mass.

1 pm

Syracuse University

18-5

Stony Brook

17-4

Stony Brook

Syracuse

5/15/2016 4:57:00 PM | Women's Lacrosse

Box Score

NEWTON, Mass. – No. 4 seed Syracuse scored four straight goals to overcome a two-goal deficit and defeated Stony Brook, 7-6, in the second round of the NCAA Women's Lacrosse Tournament in Newton, Mass. The Orange advance to the quarterfinals where they will host No. 5 seed USC on Saturday, May 21 at 3 p.m. in the Carrier Dome.

Stony Brook, which is ranked No. 7 in this week's coaches poll, led, 4-3, at halftime and went up by two on Kasey Mitchell's goal at the 26:43 mark. Senior Kelly Cross answered a minute later when she found the back of the net off an assist from senior Halle Majorana.

The Sea Wolves (17-4) won the ensuing draw and held the ball for a lengthy possession, but senior Mallory Vehar caused a turnover and sophomore Kathy Rudkin picked up the ground ball to give the Orange possession. Syracuse (18-5) took advantage of the opportunity as senior Gabby Jaquith converted a free-position attempt to even the score at 5-5 with 12:11 remaining.

Redshirt sophomore Taylor Gait kept the offensive outburst going with a free-position goal to give the Orange their first lead of the game, and senior Erica Bodt netted another free-position goal to put the Orange up by two, 7-5, with 6:38 on the clock.

Samantha DiSalvo halted the Orange's scoring run with a goal at the 4:28 mark to cut Syracuse's advantage to 7-6. The Sea Wolves won the ensuing draw, but Vehar again caused a turnover and picked up the ground ball with 4:07 on the clock. The Orange kept possession until a turnover in their offensive end with three seconds left gave Stony Brook one last chance, but the Sea Wolves couldn't get off a shot as their 15-game winning streak came to an end.

"They came out and played tough defense and it took us a little while to figure it out," said Syracuse head coach Gary Gait. "In the second half, we settled down, knew where the openings were and we took our time and were patient."

Both offenses got off to a slow start as the first goal didn't come until the 19:32 mark when Stony Brook took advantage of a man-up situation. Mitchell netted her first goal of the game to extend the Sea Wolves' lead to 2-0 before freshman Nicole Levy put Syracuse on the scoreboard with a hard shot from the top of the fan.

Mitchell tallied another unassisted goal to put Stony Brook up 3-1, but back-to-back goals by the Orange tied things up at 3-3 with 5:59 on the clock. Majorana assisted on senior Lisa Rogers' goal and then found the back of the net on a shot from the left side of the fan. The Sea Wolves won the ensuing draw and held the ball for the last shot, which it converted with 13 seconds remaining to take a 4-3 lead into the locker room at halftime.

Majorana led a balanced offensive attack for the Orange as seven different players scored goals. She finished with three points on two goals and an assist. Mitchell scored a game-high three goals for Stony Brook. Syracuse's defense held Courtney Murphy, the nation's leading goal scorer, to just one goal.

The Orange outshot Stony Brook, 16-14, and picked up 11 ground balls to 10 for the Sea Wolves. Senior Kayla Treanor won eight draw controls, helping the Orange to an 11-4 advantage in the draw circle. Graduate student Allie Murray made three saves for Syracuse, while Anna Tesoriero had four saves for Stony Brook.

Syracuse advances to the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals for the fifth consecutive year where it will take on No. 5 seed and undefeated USC on Saturday, May 21 at 3 p.m. in the Carrier Dome.