Orange Defeat Hokies, Advance to ACC Semis
CHARLOTTE – Syracuse defeated Virginia Tech, 14-12, in the ACC Tournament quarterfinals on Wednesday at American Legion Stadium in Charlotte. The Orange advance to Friday’s semifinal where they will play the winner between North Carolina and Clemson at 3:30 p.m.
Meaghan Tyrrell led the Orange with five points, giving her 402 in her career. She becomes just the ninth Division I player to record 400 or more points in her career.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Orange (16-1) led 2-1 after the first quarter and Emma Ward’s goal with 16 seconds on the clock gave Syracuse a 6-5 halftime lead.
The ‘Cuse scoring run continued after intermission as Sierra Cockerille scored twice and Megan Carney found the back of the net off a pass from Natalie Smith to give the Orange their largest lead of the night at 9-5. The Hokies (10-9) wouldn’t go away and cut the advantage to one, 10-9, before Smith scored with two seconds left in the third quarter to give the Orange an 11-9 lead heading into the 15 minutes of play.
The squads traded goals in the first four minutes of the fourth quarter before Tyrrell scored back-to-back goals to push the lead back to three, 14-11, with 5:15 remaining. Virginia Tech added a goal with just more than two minutes remaining but could get no closer.
OF NOTE
Cockerille and Ward each had a hat trick, while Carney, Meaghan Tyrrell and Emma Tyrrell had two goals each. Olivia Adamson finished with 11 draw controls.
The win improved the Orange’s all-time record in the ACC Tournament to 13-7. Syracuse will play in the semifinals for the seventh time.
