Less than a minute into the third quarter, Olivia Adamson put the Orange up 5-3, their largest lead of the afternoon. It wasn’t until Kori Edmondson found the back of the net with 11:18 remaining in the third that Maryland broke its scoring drought that had lasted over 23 minutes, cutting Syracuse’s lead to one. Less than three minutes later, Edmondson struck again, tying the score up at 5.
Off an assist by Adamson, Smith put Syracuse ahead once again with 7:36 remaining in the third. Maryland scored twice two more — yet another one from Edmondson — to go ahead 7-6.
Tyrrell scored with 2:37 to go in the third to level the score at 7. Then Syracuse had a player-up opportunity after a green card was issued to Maryland with 9:30 remaining in the fourth. The Orange converted on Adamson’s second goal, this time off a pass from Ward, to take an 8-7 lead.
Maryland was issued four green cards and three yellow cards during the contest.
“I think overall, we got way too many cards,” Reese said. “This is something that we will harp on with our team, and it’s not something that’s going to happen again for a Maryland team.”
With 8:42 left in regulation, a foul on Maryland’s Brianna Lamoureux led to a free position attempt by Savannah Sweitzer. It hit the pipe, and it ended up being a gift for the Terps.
Just 30 seconds later, Leubecker tied it at 8.
A yellow card issued to Edmondson for a cross-check with three minutes left could have been a costly error for the Terps, but Syracuse couldn’t take advantage. Maryland’s defense stood strong, and the Orange didn’t get a shot off.
“Credit to [the defense] for sticking to it, playing disciplined and not getting rattled when we had to play man-down defense for a lot of the game,” Reese said.
Maryland got the last opportunity in regulation, but Delaney Sweitzer saved a shot by Shaylan Ahearn with 13 seconds left to force overtime.
“I think Emily [Sterling] and Delaney [Sweitzer] are two of the best goalies in the country,” Reese said. “That part of the game is some of the best we are going to see in our sport this season.”
In the first overtime, Smith won the draw for Syracuse, but Sterling made her biggest save of the day on a shot by Ward, keeping hope alive.
“The defense sticking to our game plan and executing the pieces we talked about in practice this week is what set me up for success,” said Sterling, who made nine saves. “I give all the credit to the defense for putting the shooters in the places where I was confident making the saves from. The defense played as a unit today, and that’s what helped us succeed.”
Maryland was unsuccessful on its own opportunity but got the ball back by forcing Syracuse into a turnover.
As the Terps brought the ball down the field with just seconds to go in the first overtime, Syracuse’s Coco Vandiver was issued a green card, which carried into the second overtime period when Maryland still had the ball. That penalty proved costly.
Leubecker didn’t need long to score the winner off an assist from Eloise Clevenger. Maryland is now 24-3 all time against Syracuse with its first win over the Orange since 2019.
“I mean, I was just excited to celebrate with my teammates,” Leubecker said. “It was a huge team effort. We would not have even had that opportunity had the defense not come up with two huge stops.”
It wasn’t clean, but it was gritty. And most importantly for Maryland, it was a win.
“We lost a lot of games by one goal last year,” Coach Reese said. “To be able to compete in the Dome and have a win in double overtime on the road … it means we’ll have a nicer ride home today.”
