CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — Kayla Treanor put her arm around Riley Donahue, then Donahue dropped both fists below her waist and flexed while facing Halle Majorana, who smacked sticks with her.

Donahue was celebrating SU’s 13th goal with the team’s two leading scorers. But they combined for two goals and she had three.

Duke’s face guard and double team of Treanor forced her to distribute, but she didn’t commit a turnover for only the third time this season.

“We talked about before the game that when she draws two, move the ball quick,” SU head coach Gary Gait said, “we’ll find some easy openings.”

And the Orange did.

In No. 6-seed Syracuse’s (13-6, 3-4 Atlantic Coast) 14-10 win over No. 2-seed Duke (14-3, 5-2) in the ACC tournament semifinals, it was SU’s diverse offense that made the difference on Friday afternoon at Klockner Stadium. The Orange will face No. 1-seed North Carolina (15-2, 6-1) on Sunday at 1 p.m. in the championship game.

While Treanor, SU’s most dangerous offensive threat, was held scoreless, five separate goal scorers helped SU go on a 7-0 run to turn a four-goal deficit into a three-goal lead. The stretch proved to be the game-deciding one for Syracuse.

“Even though we were down, we just stuck to the game plan,” Gait said. “Kept working hard, got some opportunities, got a little energy, momentum.”

The run began when Taylor Poplawski ran past Duke’s Stuart Humphrey and finished a sidearm right-handed shot. Even Poplawski, who only had six goals on the season entering Friday’s game, got in on the action, scoring another goal later in the game.

At halftime, the two teams were tied 6-6 and Syracuse had six different goal scorers.

When the two teams played on March 28, the Orange tied the game five times but never took the lead. Two minutes into the second half, Donahue scored right in front of the crease off a pass from Treanor and SU showed that this matchup would be different.

“In the past few weeks, they’ve definitely been connecting more on those inside looks,” Duke head coach Kerstin Kimel said.

Duke’s Isabelle Montagne was tasked with guarding Treanor through the game. She said the Blue Devils had trouble keeping up with the Orange’s off-ball players, which is what caused her defense the most problems.

With 18 minutes left in the game, Treanor held the ball on the side of the net as she pointed to different spots on the field. Poplawski received a pass from her at the top of the 12-meter arc and started running toward the net. No one on Duke moved close enough to defend Poplawski, who unloaded a low shot for a goal.

It put Syracuse up 11-7, giving SU its biggest lead of the game and forced Duke to call a timeout.

“If they’d come and double, they were pressuring the ball a lot,” Treanor said. “Just moving the ball to the open person and everyone stepped up and finished their opportunities.”

Within a 20-hour span, Syracuse beat two Top-10 teams that it lost to during the regular season.

And when SU faces UNC on Sunday, it will have a chance to get revenge once again. But when these teams met two weeks ago, the Orange suffered its most lopsided loss in two years. Whether it’s Treanor or the rest of the offense, Syracuse will have to click like it has in the past two games.

“We have a lot of great offensive players who move the ball really well,” Donahue said. “I guess we’ve been doing a better job of cutting and getting open.”

Published on April 24, 2015 at 8:40 pm

Contact Paul: pmschwed@syr.edu | @pschweds