Strong Second Half Leads #5 Orange Past #4 Irish

Saturday, March 26

South Bend, Ind.

12 pm

Syracuse University

8-3, 2-1ACC

Notre Dame

9-2, 3-2ACC

Syracuse

Notre Dame

Photo by: Michael J. Okoniewski

Strong Second Half Leads #5 Orange Past #4 Irish

3/26/2016 4:07:00 PM | Women's Lacrosse

Box Score

NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Graduate student Allie Murray made a save in the final seconds to secure the No. 5/6 Syracuse women's lacrosse team's 12-11 victory at No. 4/4 Notre Dame on Saturday, March 26. The Orange trailed by as many as four in the first half, but tallied three of the game's final four goals to record the victory.

"We put it together on both ends of the field in the second half," said Syracuse head coach Gary Gait. "We did a nice job scoring and limiting our turnovers. We got better quality shots and finished. Overall, it was a much better second half."

Freshman Nicole Levy tied her career high with four goals to lead Syracuse (8-3, 2-1). Senior Kayla Treanor also had four points (2g, 2a), while senior Erica Bodt added a pair of goals.

Syracuse trailed by two at halftime but opened the second half with a 4-1 scoring run to take its first lead of the game. Bodt tallied the first goal of the half before Casey Pearsall scored one of her five goals to put the Fighting Irish (9-2, 3-2) back up by two. Senior Halle Majorana scored an unassisted goal before Levy found the back of the net off an assist from Treanor. Senior Gabby Jaquith converted a free position attempt to give the Orange their first lead of the game at 8-7 with 19:56 remaining.

Grace Muller's goal at the 16:59 mark broke a 9-9 tie, but Bodt scored on an assist from Majorana to again even the score at 10-10 with 11:46 on the clock. That goal was the first of three straight for Syracuse as it took its largest lead of the game. Levy scored on a free-position attempt and Treanor found the back of the net at the 6:21 mark to give the Orange a 12-10 advantage.

Cortney Fortunato, the nation's leading goal scorer, netted her only goal of the game on a free-position attempt to bring the Fighting Irish within one at the 4:14 mark. Senior Lisa Rogers won the ensuing draw to give Syracuse possession, but a turnover with 1:13 remaining gave Notre Dame one last chance to tie the game.

A yellow card put the Orange defense a man down, but the Fighting Irish couldn't take advantage. Fortunato got off a shot that went wide and Murray stopped Pearsall's shot with 15 seconds on the clock. Fortunato had one last chance, but her shot with four seconds on the clock was high as Syracuse posted its first win against a top-five ranked opponent this season.

Notre Dame never trailed in the first half as it jumped out to a 3-1 lead. After the Orange cut the deficit to one, the Fighting Irish scored three straight goals to take its largest lead of the game at 6-2, forcing a Syracuse timeout. Redshirt sophomore Taylor Gait halted the scoring run and Levy scored on a free position to cut the deficit to 6-4 at halftime.

Notre Dame outshot Syracuse, 34-27, while the Orange picked up 18 ground balls to 16 for the Fighting Irish. Notre Dame also won 14-of-25 draw controls. Murray finished with six saves, while Samantha Giacolone made nine for the Fighting Irish.

After playing three straight games on the road, Syracuse returns to the Carrier Dome to take on Connecticut on Tuesday, March 29 at 6 p.m. Admission is free of charge.