No. 10 Syracuse (10-4, 1-4 Atlantic Coast) fell to ACC rival and No. 13-ranked Wake Forest (10-5, 3-2 Atlantic Coast) on Saturday 4-2, marking the first loss in five games for the Orange.
Freshman midfielder Lieke Visser [10] and Junior forward Emma Russell [11] tallied the two SU goals.
The Demon Deacons tallied nine shots to the Orange’s six, and they built a 2-0 lead in the first half thanks to goals from Madi Julius and Krysta Wangerin.
Russell’s goal in 46th minute cut the deficit in half, but a Wake goal just four minutes later doubled it once again. Visser, who racked up four shots, managed to punch one in during the 62nd minute, closing the gap back to one with eight minutes to play.
After the goal, the Orange pulled junior goalkeeper Jess Jecko [12] in favor of an additional field player to make a final push. Wake Forest again responded promptly, taking advantage of the empty net and scoring to put the game out of reach.
Jecko recorded four saves on the day.
With only three regular-season games remaining, the Orange will look to rebound in its final ACC matchup Saturday at 1 p.m. against Duke at J.S. Coyne Stadium. Last year, Lauren Brooks scored in double overtime to help SU beat the Blue Devils in Durham.
