2008 NCAA Tournament
| Syracuse vs. Towson | W | 21-9 |
| Syracuse vs. North Carolina | W | 13-11 |
| Syracuse vs. Northwestern | L | 16-8 |
After finishing the regular season with nine straight wins and successfully defending its BIG EAST Tournament title, Syracuse earned a program-best fifth seed in the NCAA Championship. The Orange hosted the opening round for the first time in school history as Towson came to the Carrier Dome for the second time in 2008. After trading goals early, Katie Rowan’s goal on an assist from Christina Dove sparked a 7-0 SU scoring run in the first half, which gave Syracuse a commanding lead in a 21-9 victory. Rowan set NCAA Championship and school single-game records with 13 points and eight assists as Syracuse advanced to the quarterfinals for the second straight year.
The Orange welcomed North Carolina to the Carrier Dome for a quarterfinal matchup. In a tight game that featured four ties, North Carolina broke a 9-9 tie, taking its first lead of the game on Megan Bosica’s third goal of the contest with 9:50 remaining. Following an SU timeout, Rowan scored an unassisted goal 45 seconds later to knot the game, and then fed Halley Quillinan for a goal that put Syracuse ahead for good with 8:30 on the clock. Syracuse increased its lead when Megan Mosenson converted a pass from Rowan, before the Tar Heels again cut the lead to one on Bosica’s fourth goal of the game. The Orange clinched the victory and spot in the Final Four for the first time in school history when freshman goalkeeper Liz Hogan threw a clearing pass 55 yards to Jackie DePetris, who scored an open-net goal with 55 seconds remaining for the 13-11 final.
For the second straight year, Syracuse and Northwestern crossed paths in the NCAA Tournament, this time in the national semifinals. The first half featured back-and-forth action as neither team was able to pull away. Kristin Brady got the scoring started 1:30 into the game off an assist from Dove. After a pair of Wildcat goals, Dove found Mosenson in traffic, who put her shot in the back of the net to tie the score with 13:53 left in the half. The teams traded goals before Dove gave SU its first lead of the game, 4-3, off an assist from Brady with 10:16 remaining. Trailing 5-4, Northwestern scored three straight to take a 7-5 lead with 2:22 remaining, the largest lead for either team in the half. Mosenson found the back of the net on a shot while she was falling to the ground to cut Northwestern’s lead to 7-6 at the half.
The Wildcats scored 28 seconds into the second half, which started a 9-0 scoring run that gave Northwestern a 16-6 lead with 4:36 remaining. Quillinan halted the run when she found the back of the net with 2:14 left on the clock. Awehiyo Thomas scored the game’s final goal on an assist from Brady for the 16-8 final. For their performances against the Wildcats, Quillinan and Mosenson were named to the All-Tournament Team.
