Orange Defeat Irish to Advance to ACC Final

Friday, April 29

Blacksburg, Va.

7:30 p.m.

Syracuse University

16-4

Notre Dame

13-6

Team	1	2	Final F
Notre Dame	3	2	5
Syracuse	4	5	9

Photo by: Atlantic Coast Conference

4/29/2016 11:27:00 PM | Women's Lacrosse

Box Score

BLACKSBURG, Va. – Syracuse broke open a close game with a 5-0 scoring run on its way to a 9-5 victory against No. 3-seed and No. 6-ranked Notre Dame in the ACC Women's Lacrosse Tournament semfinals. The defending champion Orange return to the title game for the third straight year where they will face the top seed, No. 3 North Carolina, on Sunday, May 1 at 1 p.m. on RSN and ESPN3.

The Orange (16-4) led by one, 4-3, at halftime and quickly increased its lead to on sophomore Riley Donahue's goal 1:11 into the second half. After Grace Muller again cut the lead to one, freshman Nicole Levy converted a free position attempt at the 19:46 mark to extend the lead back to two, 6-4. Levy's goal was the first of five straight for Syracuse as it took its largest lead of the game at 9-4.

Senior Kelly Cross picked up a ground ball off a Notre Dame save and put her shot in the back of the net for her second goal of the night. Donahue added her second goal of the half on an assist from Levy, and senior Halle Majorana capped the scoring run with a free-position goal with 12:35 on the clock. Jenn Casadonte scored Notre Dame's first goal in 16:45 to bring the Fighting Irish (13-6) within four, but that was close as they could get as Syracuse won its fifth consecutive ACC Tournament game, dating back to 2015.

"(Goalkeeper) Allie Murray and our entire defense, in the second half, just played amazing," said Syracuse head coach Gary Gait. "We made some adjustments at halftime and really just shut them down (in the second half). With a halftime score of 4-3, to come out and get up three or four goals was huge. It was a low-scoring game and our defense was playing well."

Neither team could pull away in the first half. The Orange jumped out to an early lead on back-to-back goals by Cross and senior Kayla Treanor. Kiera McMullan put Notre Dame on the scoreboard with a free-position goal at the 19:13 mark before Levy answered with a free-position goal of her own to again put Syracuse up by two. After McMullan again cut the lead to one, Treanor got around her defender on the spin dodge and put the ball in the back of the net to push the Orange's lead to 4-2.

Casey Pearsall tallied an unassisted goal to again bring the Fighting Irish with one at 4-3 with 1:55 on the clock. The Orange won the ensuing draw and called timeout. Cross was fouled and was awarded the ball on the fan, but her shot went high as time expired in the first half.

Levy led the Orange with three points on two goals and an assist, increasing her tournament point total to eight. Treanor, Cross and Donahue also finished with two goals apiece. With her performance, Treanor moved into sixth place on the NCAA Division I all-time scoring list (379 pts.) and is now tied for 10th on the career goals scored leader list (254).

Syracuse outshot Notre Dame, 20-17, and picked up 16 ground balls to 15 for the Fighting Irish. Both teams won eight draw controls. Murray finished with six saves, while Samantha Giacolon had nine.

The second-seed and No. 4-ranked Orange will face North Carolina for the second consecutive year in the ACC Tournament final. The squads met on April 16 in the Carrier Dome where the Tar Heels posted a 12-11 victory.