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Ava Angello knows Syracuse well.

The junior Johns Hopkins attack grew up 12 miles from the JMA Wireless Dome in Manlius, New York. She played club lacrosse for the Salt City Snipers in Syracuse, and her brother, Anthony, plays professional hockey for the American Hockey League’s Syracuse Crunch.

It’s a homecoming for Angello every time she returns to upstate New York. She scored two goals in JHU’s only previous meeting with Syracuse in 2023, a 25-8 blowout win for the Orange in the NCAA Tournament Second Round. Yet on Monday, she was the key piece in breaking the hearts of the university she grew up 20 minutes away from.

Angello tied a career-high six goals as No. 7 Johns Hopkins (5-2, 0-0 Big Ten) rallied from a five-goal deficit to defeat No. 6 Syracuse (4-4, 1-2 Atlantic Coast) 14-13 in overtime. In recent contests against then-No. 12 Clemson and then-No. 6 Stanford, the Orange limited opponents’ star players — Kayla MacLeod and Aliya Polisky, respectively — to just one point. But Monday, JHU’s stars shined bright, led by Angello’s six goals and Ashley Mackin’s four.

“(Angello and Mackin) played great,” SU head coach Kayla Treanor said. “They’re really good players, and players got to make plays. They certainly made plays tonight.”

Entering Monday’s battle, limiting Johns Hopkins’ leaders would be crucial again, but it wasn’t an easy task for SU. Mackin entered the contest averaging 4.8 goals per game, the second-best mark in Division I, and Angello had 16 goals.

By the end of the first quarter, Syracuse had done a solid job of limiting the duo. Mackin found a goal late in the period, as MK Lescault attacked in transition and fed her at the doorstep. Mackin beat Daniella Guyette with an overhand finish. But aside from that, SU was in the driver’s seat, up 6-2.

“Early in the game a lot of (the scoring threat) came in transition,” Treanor said.

In the second quarter, though, Angello reintroduced herself. The junior scored a hat-trick in three minutes to steal the show, all coming on free position chances.

The first came after a foul by Kaci Benoit three minutes into the second. Angello took one step forward and ripped a sidearm shot that bounced past Guyette. A foul on Alexa Vogelman two minutes later set up Angello from the center hash, where she beat Guyette again with a sidearm. Fifty-two seconds later, she completed her hat trick from the left hash with a bouncing ball that trickled into the net.

Mackin scored on the run off another feed from Lescault late in the second to cut the lead to one. Syracuse led 8-6 at the half, but Angello’s hat trick in the second was a sign of things to come for SU.

Angello bagged another three goals in the third quarter to push the Blue Jays further. Her fourth goal of the game may have been her best, as she received a pass from Lacey Downey on a pick-and-roll and whipped a crafty behind-the-back finish to beat Guyette. Johns Hopkins’ complex screens and switches throughout the game had SU’s defense lost on numerous occasions.

“(Johns Hopkins) runs a style of offense where they don’t totally isolate their players and it’s really this two-man, three-man offense,” Treanor said. “Because of that, they’re getting switches on the matchup all the time, and they were able to take advantage of that.”

With just over five minutes to play in the third quarter, Angello received a pass from Charlotte Smith at the left hash, stepped past Benoit and whipped an overhand shot off the ground and into the net.

Angello’s sixth tally cut SU’s lead to one with under a minute to play in the third period. Taylor Hoss found her unmarked from five yards out, and she hammered a high-to-high overhand into the cage for her sixth goal in two quarters. While Syracuse led 10-9 entering the final period of play, Angello and the Blue Jays had all of the momentum.

Mackin was JHU’s main source of offense in the fourth quarter. On a power play opportunity seven minutes in, Hoss found Mackin on a cross-crease pass, and she slammed it home to complete her hat trick. A minute and a half later, Mackin ripped a worm burner on a free position to beat Guyette and tie the game at 11.

While neither Angello nor Mackin found the net in the final seven minutes of regulation and overtime, the duo’s 10 combined goals paved the way for Johns Hopkins’ five-goal comeback. Angello’s six in her return to Upstate New York punctuated the Blue Jays’ efforts.

Syracuse has allowed its fair share of big games this season, including a five-goal performance by Northwestern’s Madison Taylor and four goals from Maryland’s Kori Edmondson. But Angello’s domination on Monday reached a new level.

While SU found success in limiting leaders against Clemson and Stanford, the Orange aren’t going to shut down stars every game. Angello and Mackin taught Syracuse the hard way Monday.

Published on March 10, 2025 at 9:29 pm

harrispemberton@gmail.com | @HarrisPemb6