The teams traded goals to start the game before back-to-back goals by Sammy Jo Tracy and Marie McCool put North Carolina (12-2, 6-0) up two, 4-2, at the 21:51 mark. Senior Kelly Cross recorded her second goal of the day off an assist from freshman Nicole Levy to spark the Orange (12-4, 4-2) on a 5-0 scoring run that gave Syracuse a three-goal lead.
Sophomore Riley Donahue scored twice during the offensive outburst, which was capped by Halle
Majorana's goal off a restart that put the Orange up, 7-4, with 4:12 on the clock. Ela Hazar found the back of the net at the 1:47 mark for the North Carolina's first goal in more than 20 minutes of action. The Orange led, 8-5, but North Carolina netted two goals in the final minute of the first half to cut the led to one, 8-7, at halftime.
Senior Kayla Treanor got the scoring started in the second half when she found the back of the net on a backhanded shot off an assist from Donahue. Donahue followed with her fourth goal of the day as Syracuse matched its largest lead of the game at 10-7 with 26:18 on the clock.
Tracy started the Tar Heels' comeback with an unassisted goal at the 24:53 mark to cut the deficit to two. That goal was the first of five straight for North Carolina as it went up two, 12-10, with 11:48 remaining.
Treanor halted the scoring run with a free-position goal at the 10:54 mark, ending Syracuse's scoring drought of more than 15 minutes and bringing the Orange within one at 12-11. That would be the final goal of the game.
Megan Ward made one of her seven second-half saves on Levy's shot with 6:06 on the clock, giving North Carolina possession. The Tar Heels attempted to run out the clock, but sophomore Kaeli O'Connor caused a turnover with 38 seconds remaining to give Syracuse one last chance to tie the game. The Orange, however, turned the ball over on the clear attempt with 19 seconds left to give North Carolina the one-goal victory.
"That was a tough game," said Syracuse head coach Gary Gait. "Two very good teams going head to head and I think it was a game of runs. They got that last run and got up on us. That goalie saw plenty of shots in the second half and we just didn't finish like we did in the first."
Donahue tied her career high with four goals and finished with a team-high six points. Treanor had four points and moved into second place on Syracuse's all-time scoring record list. She now has 364 points, moving past Alyssa Murray '14, who recorded 362 points from 2011-14. In addition, Treanor is now eighth on the NCAA Division I all-time scoring list.
North Carolina outshot Syracuse, 32-28, and picked up 15 ground balls to 11 for the Orange. The Tar Heels also held a slight advantage in the draw circle, winning 12-of-25. Graduate student Allie Murray made six saves for Syracuse, while Caylee Waters and Ward combined for nine.
The Orange play their final regular-season road game on Tuesday, April 19 at Cornell at 7 p.m. in Ithaca, N.Y.
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