Kayla Treanor bolted into the offensive zone searching for an open teammate ahead, fresh off one of Syracuse’s 12 draw controls. Following a quick, sweeping pass, Riley Donahue found herself with the ball on the fast break as the Orange trailed, 4-2, with just under 22 minutes remaining in the first half.

The sophomore took three hard steps looking to continue the high tempo movement, but instead decided to pull back and slow down the attack. Stick in her right hand, Donahue motioned her teammates with her left to slow down, work the ball around and get a good look at the goal.

But instead of finding a clean opportunity, midfielder Taylor Gait turned the ball over and the Tar Heels had spoiled another potential scoring chance.

“I just think we tried to slow our game down,” Donahue said. “I think if we had kept our pace up, maybe we would’ve kept (the scoring) going.”

No. 4 Syracuse (12-4, 4-2 Atlantic Coast) scored six additional first half goals to take a lead against No. 3 North Carolina (12-2, 6-0 ACC) 8-7 at halftime. The attack sputtered to a halt in the final 30 minutes, however, tacking on just three goals as the Orange fell 12-11 Saturday afternoon in the Carrier Dome.

Donahue netted four goals, three in the first half, and didn’t think the tempo directly affected the scoring clip as the team actually tallied 17 shots in the second half and 28 total.

“We had plenty of good shots,” said head coach Gary Gait. “They played the same defense in both halves and just looked to help, but we just couldn’t put the ball away.”

Treanor, Halle Majorana, Donahue and Nicole Levy all found relative success in the first half with movement and distributing accordingly between each other, the key cogs in the attack. Syracuse’s eight first-half goals came on just 11 shots.

Responding to the Orange’s lead, North Carolina goalkeeper Megan Ward entered the game in relief of Caylee Waters. Just two and a half minutes into the second frame, the Tar Heel defense allowed Treanor to bully her way past the North Carolina defense and score her first goal of the day, a score that gave her 363 points and made her the No. 2 point-scorer in program history.

“You play to win games,” Treanor said. “We didn’t win today so (the point record) doesn’t really matter.”

Ward answered the charge of shutting down the third-best offense in the ACC. Donahue added another score to give Syracuse a 10-7 lead with over 26 minutes remaining, but four quick saves in the next five minutes made it clear Ward was meant to persevere.

Ward’s feet moved quicker. She anticipated and stopped shots that the Orange had seen find the back of the net all season long. Ward’s seven saves not only dwarfed Waters’ two first half stops, but gave North Carolina a fighting chance to mount a comeback.

“(Ward) got in our shooter’s heads a little bit,” Gait said. “She made a couple saves early and we missed the net a bunch and didn’t put it in.

“She was a game-changer today.”

The 10 goals remained on the scoreboard as the Tar Heels climbed back into the game, goal by goal. Treanor managed to score her second goal of the game to bring Syracuse within a single score, but an 11 stayed on the Carrier Dome scoreboard until the final buzzer sounded.

Following Treanor’s goal, North Carolina dominated possession and Syracuse managed only two shots, one of which Ward stopped. After a promising first 30 minutes, Syracuse simply faltered in the second half due to an inability to finish.

“Some of our shots didn’t go in. We had a lot of opportunities,” Donahue said. “…If we had finished more, it would have been a different outcome.”

Published on April 16, 2016 at 4:25 pm

Contact Liam: lpsull01@syr.edu