Syracuse women’s lacrosse: Orange clinch share of ACC regular season title with 15-6 win over Clemson

‘Cuse’s ninth straight win secured them at least a share of the regular season crown for the second straight season.

The first ever trip to play the Clemson Tigers was a memorable one for the Syracuse Orange women’s lacrosse team, who defeated their hosts, 15-6, on Saturday afternoon.

Not so much because of the game itself, which was a pretty straightforward victory for ‘Cuse, but because of the implications. The Orange improved to 12-3 on the season with their ninth straight win to remain perfect at 8-0 in the ACC. The win guaranteed SU a share of the ACC regular season title for the second straight year, with their huge matchup with Boston College looming on Thursday.

‘Cuse more or less controlled this game all the way through, thanks to their 17-6 domination on draw controls. Winning restarts doesn’t always mean you control the pace of play and dominate possession, but it did on this day. Especially early, when the game was still tight, Kate Mashewske (10DC) and the draw unit ensured Clemson would spend the day chasing as the ball remained in the Orange’s third most of the time.

The game was tied at one after 12 minutes of play, but that’s when SU started playing make-it-take-it to extreme effect. They went on a run from the late first quarter into the early second in which they scored eight straight goals in just over seven minutes to take a tie game to a 9-1 ‘Cuse advantage.

A pair of strong X-dodges from Olivia Adamson and Emma Ward ignited the run, and Clemson would never get closer than six goals the rest of the game. An Orange offense that was a little uneven throughout the game did all the work they needed to in that brief, seven-minute stretch to put the game out of reach.

The Tigers would score three of the next four goals to make it 10-4 early in the second half, but that was their only spurt of momentum thanks to a dominating effort by the SU defense.

The Orange did an outstanding job of stick-checking Clemson all afternoon, leading to 20 turnovers by the home team, 10 of which were officially credited as “caused”. The Tigers were only able to take 26 total shots for the game, only six more than the turnovers they had.

Delaney Sweitzer (4SV, 6GB, 4CT) led the way with an excellent all-around performance as her four saves and .444 save percentage were only the beginning of her day. Mostly, Sweitzer was outstanding outside of her cage as she spent the day popping out to intercept passes and scoop up ground balls. Four different times, she intercepted a Clemson pass and finished the game with six GBs and four CTs.

Katie Goodale (4GB, 2CT, 4DC) had a really strong all-around day, as well, filling up the stat sheet on draw controls as well as the defensive end.

Offensively, Emma Tyrrell (3G, 3A) had another big performance as she led the way with six points and was one of three players with a hat trick on the day. Payton Rowley (4G) tied her career high and led the team with four goals, and Olivia Adamson (3G, 1A) was the third with a hat trick and four points.

Emma Ward (2G, 1A) had a three-point day to round out ‘Cuse’s multiple-point scorers. Maddy Baxter (1G), Nat Smith (1G) and Savannah Sweitzer (1G) all had a goal, and Gracie Britton (1A) had a very nice dish out of a double team on one of Rowley’s goals.

During this nine-game winning streak, SU has scored at least 15 goals in every single game as the offense has found their footing.

The Orange will be back in action this coming week when they travel to Chestnut Hill for the regular season finale with the Boston College Eagles. The game is Thursday, April 18 at 5 PM on ESPNU.