Louisville still had control. Despite blowing a three-goal fourth-quarter lead, Louisville had possession and was circling the net looking for that final goal. With less than a minute left to play, Syracuse and the Cardinals were tied at 10-10.

Then came Syracuse’s chance to cap an improbable rally. The Orange’s Jill Cammett forced a turnover. 

Attack Tee Ladouceur floated around the Louisville goal as Cammett passed downfield. Ladouceur cut up in front of the goal in time to catch a pass from Michelle Tumolo.

With 50 seconds left on the clock, she turned toward the goal with her stick poised in the air. One second later, she launched the ball into the middle of the net. She jumped into the air, bouncing up and down as her teammates screamed. It proved to be the decisive tally as Syracuse (6-7, 4-1 Big East) secured its 11-10 victory Thursday.

 ‘They had the ball for about a minute, and what do you know, Jill comes up with it,’ Ladouceur said. ‘And we get down the field and we start making plays. And that’s what it’s about.’

The final goal capped off a four-goal run for the Orange, including another by Ladouceur and two by midfielder Sarah Holden, who had a career-high four goals and two assists on the day. After a lackluster performance by the Syracuse offense for the majority of the game, the team was able to get its energy up and mount a furious rally in the last six minutes.

Down 10-7, Syracuse’s offensive surge started with a free-position shot awarded to Holden. She passed the ball to a wide-open Ladouceur, who finished. But it was Cammett who really fired up her teammates. Just minutes before starting the game-winning play, she forced a turnover to shift the momentum of the game.

SU head coach Gary Gait said the momentum shifted in large part to Cammett’s play. SU went on to score three goals in the final 3:23. Cammett inspired the biggest difference between the Syracuse team that wasn’t scoring and the Syracuse team that won.

‘It was the energy level, the sense of urgency,’ Gait said.

And the comeback bucked the Orange’s struggles playing from behind this season. The team had not yet overcome a halftime deficit for a win before the game against the Cardinals (10-5, 3-3 Big East). But Thursday, the team appeared to have learned from past mistakes.

‘We’re capable of scoring in bunches and making runs,’ Gait said. ‘In other games we didn’t do that. We didn’t finish. We didn’t make the run. In this game, we did. Maybe it’s the fact that we’re at home and they believe in themselves better when we’re at home. But they made the plays and that’s the difference between winning and losing.’

The Syracuse attack was more cohesive in the last part of the game. Gait attributed that to the team attacking as a group and moving well off the ball.

Defensively, the Orange was able to slow down its opponent as a whole, although Louisville senior attack Liz Lovejoy had the game-high five goals. Gait said occasionally it is better to pressure a team’s offense and let one player have a successful game than it is to focus on that one player. Overall, he was pleased with how the team defended.

‘Defensively, from (goaltender Liz Hogan) in the net, all the way up through the attack we were showing that we can transition the ball and finish,’ Gait said.

Hogan had nine saves on the day. In those last few minutes, however, the excitement of the offense drew her forward. She began sneaking up out of her goal, even crossing the midfield line at times. Given the situation, she said she was not too concerned about leaving the net open.

‘I don’t know if I necessarily get nervous,’ Hogan said. ‘It’s more like an extra support for them because I’m obviously the open one. You have that advantage when the ball’s in the offensive end, so I just try to help out.

alguggen@syr.edu