No. 9 Syracuse (7-4, 2-2 Atlantic Coast) clinched a berth in the conference tournament by beating No. 11 North Carolina (6-5, 2-1), 13-7, at the Carrier Dome on Saturday.

The Orange had lost four of its last five games coming into the match and was 0-3 against teams ranked No. 11 or better, but broke the streak with the six-goal win over the Tar Heels.

Here are three observations from the game.

Holding on

Syracuse ran out to a commanding 8-2 lead over North Carolina in the first half. But a four-goal third quarter for the Tar Heels cut the Orange’s lead to two.

In three of the SU’s last five games it had blown second half leads on the way to losses. It was up by two to Cornell on Tuesday and fell in overtime. The Orange had a five-goal lead at one point when it played Duke on March 26 and dropped the game in overtime. Syracuse had a two-goal lead in the fourth quarter against Johns Hopkins on March 19 with and blew that one, too, losing in overtime.

But on Saturday, the Orange avoided the trend of dropping games and held on. Jordan Evans found the back of the net early in the fourth quarter to end UNC’s four-goal run and Nick Weston scored with just under seven minutes left to stretch the lead to four.

The Orange took control of the fourth quarter to outscore UNC, 4-1, in the final frame.

Stuck in limbo

Syracuse goalie Evan Molloy’s job was still in limbo prior to the UNC game. He had allowed 16 goals and made 13 saves in his first two starts after taking over for beginning-of-the-year starter Warren Hill.

Through the first half on Saturday, Molloy turned in the best half of his career. Against the fourth-highest scoring offense in the country, Molloy made five saves and let in just two goals. Twice he passed the ball quickly up the field, which led to transition goals for the Orange.

None of Molloy’s success from the first half carried into the third quarter, though. Almost all the shots that the Tar Heels took wound up in the back of the net.

His three saves in the fourth quarter, though, were enough to help stave off the Tar Heels comeback.

Surge

Midfielder Sergio Salcido once again led the Orange offensive attack with a team-high five points (three goals and two assists). He’s now second on the team with 32 points.

Salcido netted two of the Orange’s first three goals using his speed to get around defenders. When the North Carolina defense adjusted to slide faster when Salcido had the ball, he dumped it off and found open players for assists.

Published on April 16, 2016 at 6:12 pm

Contact Jon: jrmettus@syr.edu | @jmettus