That trophy, she said, was all the impetus Syracuse needed to muster the effort it needed to beat North Carolina, 4-2, in the title game.
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After North Carolina pulled its goalkeeper, Syracuse capitalized with Emma Lamison finishing a pass from Russell at the near post to go up two goals. The Orange (21-1), who scored four goals on five shots, added an empty-net goal in the final minutes.
Holness, with a stylish move in the 75th minute, split two defenders and had a clear shot on goal, but the ball floated over the crossbar to stay at 1-0. “We’re a team that couldn’t be top 10 three years ago and now we’re doing this”.
Going into the race, they were second favourite to Colorado. The Bluejays won 5-1 over Drake on Sunday. October connected with Hume, and the redshirt junior ripped it past the fingertips of keeper Fernando Pina for his ACC-leading 11th goal of the season.
It wasn’t over just yet, though.
Senior forward Tobenna Uzo scored for the Chants with 2:39 remaining, on a rebound off an initial shot by Camargo to cut the deficit in half.
“Said Uzo: “[The confidence] was high.
Hume made only his third start of the season, and played the entire first half. “I have no feeling because it’s so unreal right now”.
The top-ten finishes helped the Orange claim victory by a 9-point margin, 82-91. “We kept expectations low and weren’t out there saying we were going to win, but deep down that’s what we all were doing-unspoken words, taking care of business”.
The Chanticleers came out charging in the second half, putting more pressure on the Tar Heel defense, but Alex Olofson responded with the first shot of the half that sailed just high of the net in the 51st minute.
“I was pleased with the performance.
I thought after giving up the early goal we settled into the game better, and I thought from then on we were good”, Chants coach Shaun Docking said. “It’s been a long” Russell said, until she was overcome by emotion and Bradley put a hand on Russell’s back, on the white national championship T-shirt.
“We had our ups and downs, started very well, slowed down, took our foot off the pedal for a bit and that hurt us a lot in the RPI and the rankings”, Camargo said. “But the work we do, and we like to think we do it really well, is to be able to run that last mile”.
This marked the Chants’ sixth-straight NCAA tournament appearance and fifth-straight year advancing to the second round after they edged North Florida 1-0 in the opening round on Thursday. It’s a team sport, and over the past four years we’ve had a few incredible players come and go.
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The last time the Syracuse and North Carolina field hockey teams met, it was UNC raising the trophy at the end of the game. I thought when we tied it that momentum was going our way, and then Syracuse slammed the door. “We’re not just happing getting to the NCAA tournament, although we’re very grateful and pleased that we are because it’s a very, very hard thing to do”.
