Orange Advance to ACC Final With Win Over Cavaliers

Friday, April 28

Richmond, Va.

8 pm

Syracuse University

14-5

Virginia

10-8

Virginia

Syracuse

Photo by: Atlantic Coast Conference

Orange Advance to ACC Final With Win Over Cavaliers

4/28/2017 11:58:00 PM | Women's Lacrosse

Box Score

RICHMOND, Va. – Syracuse junior Riley Donahue tied her career high with four goals to lead No. 2 seed Syracuse to a 15-12 victory against No. 3 seed Virginia in the semifinals of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Women's Lacrosse Tournament. The Orange will play in the tournament final for the fourth consecutive year where they will take on top seed and No. 3-ranked North Carolina on Sunday, April 30 at 1 p.m. in Richmond, Va.

"It was a solid effort," Syracuse head coach Gary Gait said. "We can definitely play better. We need to play better to compete against North Carolina. Like last night, we called a timeout and that settled us down and we made plays."

HOW IT WAS DECIDED
Much like in the quarterfinals on Thursday, Syracuse found itself down early as Virginia (10-8) scored the first three goals of the game. After Gait called a timeout, the Orange got on the scoreboard when Donahue scored on an assist from freshman Emily Hawryschuk. That goal was the first of four straight for Syracuse as it took its first lead of the game.

The final goal of the run was off a fastbreak started by goalkeeper Asa Goldstock. She passed the ball up field to redshirt freshman Mary Rahal, who brought the ball into the offensive zone. She connected with Hawryschuk in front of the goal, who found the back of the net off a behind-the-back shot to put the Orange up 4-3 at the 17:55 mark.

The Cavaliers fought back and tied the score at 5-5, but juniors Alie Jimerson and Neena Merola netted back-to-back goals to give the Orange a 7-5 halftime lead.

Syracuse (14-5) opened the second half with back-to-back goals by Donahue and Hawryschuk to extend the lead to four, 9-5, before Avery Shoemaker found the back of the net, ending Virginia's scoring drought of more than 17 minutes of play. The squads traded goals before redshirt freshman Cara Quimby and Rahal scored to give Syracuse its largest lead of the game at 12-7 with 14:38 to play.

The Orange denied any comeback attempt by the Cavaliers, never letting Virginia get any closer than three goals as they posted the 15-12 victory to improve their all-time record to 4-0 in ACC Tournament semifinal action.

OF NOTE
Donahue, who was named one of 25 nominees for the 2017 Tewaaraton Award earlier in the day, scored four goals in a game for the third time this season and seventh in her career. Hawryschuk finished with three goals and two assists for a team-high five points.

UP NEXT…
Syracuse and North Carolina will meet in the ACC Tournament final for the third consecutive year. The Orange won the 2015 title, while the Tar Heels claimed last year's championship.