Treanor's Overtime Goal Gives Orange ACC Title
Syracuse wins fourth conference title in program history
Next Game: Loyola
5/2/2015 - 1 pm
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- Kayla Treanor scored an unassisted goal in the second overtime to give No. 7/7 Syracuse a 9-8 victory against No. 2/2 North Carolina in the title game of the ACC Women's Lacrosse Tournament final. It's the Orange's first ACC championship, fourth in program history and third under the direction of head coach
Gary Gait.
Syracuse, the sixth seed in the tournament, defeated No. 4 Boston College, No. 3 Duke and the second-ranked Tar Heels in a span of 72 hours to win the title.
Treanor delivered two game winners in overtime and was named the tournament MVP. She was joined on the All-Tournament Team by seniors
Kelsey Richardson,
Kailah Kempney and
Mallory Vehar and junior
Halle Majorana.
With the score tied at 5-5 with 14:35 remaining in the second half freshman
Riley Donahue scored an unassisted goal to spark the Orange on a 3-0 scoring run. Treanor and Majorana each registered free position goals as the Orange (14-6) matched its largest lead of the game at three, 8-5, with 7:16 remaining in regulation.
Kelly Devlin halted Syracuse's scoring run with the first of three straight goals for the Tar Heels (15-3). Aly Messinger netted her second goal of the game and Lindsay Scott's free position with 1:10 on the clock tied the game at 8-8.
North Carolina won the ensuing draw and held the ball for the last shot, but Richardson made the save with two seconds on the clock to force overtime.
Both teams had chances to get the go-ahead goal at the end of the first extra session. Syracuse blocked a North Carolina shot and Richardson picked up the ground ball to give SU possession with 38 seconds on the clock. After a timeout, the Orange worked the ball into its offensive end but Tar Heels goalkeeper Caylee Waters stopped
Taylor Gait's shot to force a sudden victory overtime session.
The Orange won the draw to start the second OT and got the ball to Treanor, who came around the right side of the net and put her shot past Waters to give Syracuse the win.
"All throughout the year I have said that we can beat anybody and we can lose to anybody, and this week was our week and we beat them all," Gait said. "To me it is unbelievable that this team can step up and beat the number four, the number three, and the number two teams in the country all in four days. It took character, heart, effort and believing that they could get it done. We've been through a lot this year, and we've had some tough games, but we stick together and just keep believing that we can do it. All great teams, the best teams in the country here in the ACC and it was a pleasure to be a part of it"
Syracuse jumped out to a 3-0 lead but North Carolina responded with three straight goals to even the score. The first half was a defensive battle as the goalkeepers combined for 11 saves and neither team scored in the final 11:05.
Majorana had a hat trick with three goals, while Treanor had two goals and an assist. She finished with six assists in three games to tie the tournament record.
Richardson made 10 saves in the final, giving her 29 in the three games, leaving her one shy of the tournament record. In addition, Kempney recorded nine draw controls as the Orange dominated in the circle, winning 16-of-21 draw controls.
With the victory Syracuse earns an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. First Syracuse will close out the regular season next Saturday at Loyola.
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