Treanor Leads Orange Past Penn and into NCAA Quarterfinals

Sunday, May 10

1:30 pm

Syracuse University

15-7

Pennsylvania

15-5

PENN

Syracuse

Photo by: Michael J. Okoniewski

Treanor Leads Orange Past Penn and into NCAA Quarterfinals

5/10/2015 5:45:00 PM | Women's Lacrosse

Box Score

Syracuse advances to the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals for the eighth time in program history.

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Junior Kayla Treanor tallied a game-high six points to lead No. 3/3 Syracuse to a 13-10 victory against No. 15/14 Pennsylvania in the second round of the NCAA Women's Lacrosse Tournament. The Orange advances to the quarterfinals for the fourth straight year where it will take on Loyola.

A back-and-forth first half featured four ties. The Orange (15-7) led 2-1 before the Quakers (14-5) tallied three straight goals to take its largest lead of the game at 4-2 with 20:28 on the clock. Back-to-back goals by junior Taylor Gait and senior Kailah Kempney again tied the game at 4-4. The teams were deadlocked again at 6-6 before Treanor netted one of her four goals on a free position attempt to give the Orange the lead for good with 5:55 remaining in the first half.

Freshman Kathy Rudkin caused a turnover and senior Mallory Vehar picked up the ground ball to give Syracuse possession with 1:47 on the clock. Orange head coach Gary Gait called timeout and SU ran the play he called to perfection when Treanor passed the ball to junior Halle Majorana, who was camped out on the left side of the crease. She put her shot in the back of the net with 16 seconds on the clock as the Orange went into the locker room at intermission with an 8-6 lead.

Syracuse outscored Penn, 3-1, in the first four minutes of the second half to take its largest of the game of four with 26:44 remaining. Gait, Treanor and freshman Riley Donahue all found the back of the net to extend the Orange's lead to 11-7. With Syracuse leading 12-8, Tory Bensen recorded two straight goals, both on assists by Nina Corcoran, to cut Syracuse's advantage to two, but that was as close as Pennsylvania could get.

Treanor capped a lengthy possession for the Orange that lasted more than four minutes with her fourth goal of the game to put the Orange back up by three at 13-10. Penn won the ensuing draw and Shannon Mangini tried to cut the Quakers' deficit to two, but Syracuse goalkeeper Kelsey Richardson made the save as Syracuse recorded the three-goal victory.

"I thought it was a good, solid team effort," Gait said. "It was a little sloppy at times, playing on the grass field again. Our players gave it 100 percent effort, especially in the second half, to finish this game and not be denied. I'm very proud of them and what they did and how they finished it."

Treanor finished with four goals and two assists. She now has 38 points in NCAA Tournament play in her career, which is the third-highest total in program history. In addition, her 26 goals rank second behind only Alyssa Murray's 33 (2011-14). Gait recorded three goals, while Majorana had two goals and an assist. Bensen led Penn with four goals, and Corcoran added five assists.

Syracuse recorded 25 shots and picked up nine ground balls, while the Quakers had 24 shots and 13 ground balls. Penn held a slight advantage in the draw circle, winning 13-of-24. Richardson finished with seven saves.

The Orange will make its eighth appearance in the NCAA quarterfinals next weekend when it faces Loyola. Syracuse has an all-time record of 5-2 in the round of eight.