Falling away from the cage, Meaghan Tyrrell passed to Savannah Sweitzer, who wrapped her stick around a Maryland defender and fired in Syracuse's 20th goal. Not only was it Swetizer's first score of the season, but it was also Tyrrell's 11th point of the afternoon, a new career-high.
No. 4 SU women's lacrosse (2-0, 0-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) dominated both sides of the ball in its 20-11 win over No. 2 Maryland (1-1, 0-0 Big 10 Conference). Delaney Sweitzer played arguably her best game in goal for the Orange, recording a career-high 13 saves. On the offensive end, Meaghan Tyrrell followed up her eight-point outing against Northwestern with six goals and five assists against the Terrapins. SU improved to 2-0 and opened its season with two wins over two top-five opponents for the first time since 2021.
"I'm just so proud of the team. They played so well all over the field: drives, offense, defense and goalies," said head coach Kayla Treanor.
Both squads went back and forth throughout the first quarter. Meaghan Tyrrell racked up a hat trick less than 10 minutes into the contest, and Megan Carney's goal put Syracuse up 6-2. Maryland countered by blitzing the Orange with three goals in 50 seconds, highlighted by Libby May's second goal of the season to cut SU's lead to one.
Sierra Cockerille made her presence known to start the second. The graduate student fired a shot past UMD goalkeeper Emily Sterling, her first goal in almost a year after tearing her ACL last season. Maddy Baxter added two more scores for Syracuse, giving it an 11-6 advantage going to halftime.
Maryland received a golden opportunity early in the third quarter when two SU players were issued yellow cards. Despite being two players down, Tessa Queri helped force a Terrapins turnover. Meaghan Tyrrell dashed down the field and dished a pass to Olivia Adamson, who did the rest short-handed.
Short-handed goal for Olivia Adamson!
— Syracuse Women's Lacrosse (@CuseWLAX) February 17, 2023
Catch the second half on ACCNX. pic.twitter.com/465znR40Is
That sequence turned out to be a back-breaker for UMD, who allowed another shorthanded goal to Carney minutes later. Early in the fourth quarter, Meaghan Tyrrell's fifth goal gave SU a commanding 17-9 advantage.
Goalkeeper Delaney Sweitzer kept the Terrapins from forming any comeback the rest of the way. The senior held the No. 2 ranked team in the country to just three goals in the fourth and was particularly sharp on free positions. Out of Maryland's 13 free positions, the visitors only connected on five shots. With a stop on Libby May's shot late in the final quarter, Sweitzer recorded her 12th save, a new career-best.
"Coming into these two games, our team overall has a lot of trust in each other and we've been preparing very well for this type of competition," Sweitzer said.
The final dagger was issued by Sweitzer's sister, Savannah, who scored the last of SU's goals. The Orange connected on 20 of their 29 shots, their most accurate performance since April 24, 2021, against Boston College.
No. 4 Syracuse women's lacrosse looks to continue its win streak at home against Binghamton on Monday night. Opening draw is set for 4:00 p.m. in the JMA Wireless Dome.