Top-Ranked North Carolina Pulls Away After Test at the Dome

Fueled by a stellar effort by senior goalie Daniella Guyette, Syracuse gave top-ranked and reigning national champion North Carolina all it could handle, but the Tar Heels (2-0) pulled away late for a 13-9 victory on Friday afternoon in the JMA Wireless Dome.

Syracuse (0-2), which was held to just five goals in a 9-5 season-opening loss to Maryland last week, jumped out to a 3-1 lead after the first quarter and took a 6-5 halftime lead on Emma Muchnick’s goal with 54 seconds left in the first half.

Guyette made six saves in the opening half, but the Orange weren’t able to capitalize as much as they could have, turning the ball over 13 times in the first half, including six failed clears.

Carolina got back-to-back goals from Chloe Humphrey and Caroline Godine to open the second half, taking the lead for the first tie since early in the first quarter, but Syracuse was not done. Molly Guzik’s goal early in the fourth quarter tied the game 8-8.

Kate Levy, the daughter of UNC head coach Jenny Levy, then got things going in the fourth quarter with a goal and two assists on a three-goal Carolina run to stretch things out. Caroline Trinkaus scored with 7:33 left to pull Syracuse back within 11-9, but Kiley Mottice and Levy put the game away with two more goals.

“This game was very close, back and forth, but regardless we always had the same mentality that weren’t going to lose,” said North Carolina defender Sam Forrest, who had a pair of ground balls in the victory. “We came into this game confident. We just had to rely on our preparation and make sure we communicated with each other because the dome can be loud.”

North Carolina outshot Syracuse 41-20, but Guyette helped keep things in check as she finished with 14 saves. North Carolina’s Betty Nelson made all four of her saves in the second half, limiting the Orange to just three goals after the break.

Humphrey and Levy led Carolina with three goals and two assists each, and for Levy it was the first hat trick of her career after scoring 14 goals as a freshman last year. Godine added two goals and two assists and Mottice and Darcy Felter each scored twice.

Guzik, Muchnick and Trinkaus all had two goals for Syracuse.

Carolina hosts Ohio State in its home opener next Friday while Syracuse continues its season-opening string against Top 10 opponents with a trip to Stanford next Friday.

Notre Dame, Michigan Pull Off Top 5 Upsets

Notre Dame continues to turn heads in the early going this season with a come-from-behind 12-9 victory at No. 3 Boston College. The Irish outscored BC 6-0 in the final quarter.

The Irish relied on their nucleus of young stars in the victory, with freshman Grace Maroney, a Massachusetts native, leading the way with a hat trick. Classmate Maura Irish had a team-high four points on two goals and two assists and sophomore Madison Rassas scored back-to-back goals to open the fourth quarter rally.

Maroney’s third goal of the game tied the game at 9-9 in the fourth quarter with 11:14 to play and just over a minute later, another freshman – Charley Bacigalupo – gave the Irish the lead for good. Maura Irish and junior Kate Timarky closed out the scoring.

It was the second victory for Notre Dame over a ranked team after they opened the season with an upset victory over Michigan.

Boston College, which got 14 saves from star goalie Shea Dolce but struggled with its shooting, fell to 0-2 to start the season. North Carolina transfer Marissa White led the Eagles with a hat trick.

Michigan bounced back from its season-opening loss to Notre Dame with a big 12-10 victory at No. 4 Florida. The Wolverines dug an early 3-0 hole, but answered with three straight goals and then won the back-and-forth game by scoring the final two goals of the contest.

Michigan was dominant on the draw, winning 16 of 24, led by Emma Burke with nine draw controls. Senior Calli Norris led the Wolverines offense with three goals and junior Emma Bradbury scored the go-ahead goal, her second of the game, with 9:19 to play to break a 10-10 tie.

Clark Hamilton led Florida with three goals, including a game-tying goal early in the fourth quarter to cap a three-goal run for the Gators. Florida used three goalies in the game, ending with Oregon transfer Paige Crowther in the second half. Crowther made five saves while allowing just three goals.