SU men’s and women’s lacrosse upset North Carolina

Kayla Treanor led the women's team past the No. 1 Tar Heels, while Billy Ward scored in double overtime to put the men on top.

Saturday marked a monumental day in Syracuse lacrosse history.

Not only did both the men’s and women’s teams beat the University of North Carolina, but the wins came in front of record-breaking crowds.

The No. 3 women’s team kicked things off early in the day, with Kayla Treanor scoring a career-high seven goal in a 12-9 victory over the No. 1 Tar Heels. The Orange (13-1, 5-1 ACC) never trailed during the game, but the Tar Heels never made it easy, crawling back from two- and three-goal deficits multiple times.

Going into halftime, SU held a 6-3 lead going into halftime, and extended that lead to 7-3 a minute into the second half. But the Tar Heels, the best team in the nation responded furiously with a three-goal spurt to cut the deficit to one with 21 minutes left in the game.

Syracuse tried to reclaim a large lead with two straight goals from Amy Cross and Treanor, but UNC ignited yet another three-goal run, tying the game at 9-9 with 12:27 remaining in the game. But Treanor, one of SU’s deadliest scorers, scored two of the last three goals of the game—all by SU—to give the Orange its first win over the nation’s top team in the regular season.

"This game lived up to what I thought it would be: two of the best teams in the country going head-to-head," SU head coach Gary Gait said. "I thought our players performed excellent against the number one team in the country.”

The No. 7 men’s team bookended a fine Saturday of lacrosse with an exhilarating double overtime upset of the Tar Heels. With the win, Syracuse (8-3, 2-3 ACC), clinch a spot in the ACC tournament. After a tense second half where the Orange scored six goals to come within one of the Tar Heel lead,, UNC turned ball over with 23 seconds left in the game. After a successful clear by SU, Kevin Rice tied the game with 10 seconds left in regulation. And one minute into the game's second overtime, Billy Ward scored the game-winning goal, catupulting the Orange into either the second of third seed in the ACC championship.

After the first half, the Tar Heels convincing 6-3 lead after stopping the Orange from scoring in the second quarter. But a quick change of pace by SU in the third ignited a 4-1 scoring run for the Orange to tie the game at 7-7 heading into the fourth. Both teams traded goals in the final period, until Rice finally tied the game up with second left on the clock. Syracuse has now won five of its last seven games, including four wins against Top-20 opponents and three against Top-10.

 

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