Top 10 moments from Syracuse’s 10 years in the ACC
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On July 1, 2013, Syracuse officially joined the Atlantic Coast Conference.
It departed the Big East in a move that had been in the works since it applied for membership alongside Pittsburgh in September 2011. Notre Dame, in all sports besides football and men’s ice hockey, joined the conference that same date, too.
Over the past decade, several of the Orange’s programs have had successful seasons in the conference, appearing in conference title games, pulling off major ACC victories and playing in the postseason.
Here are some of SU’s best moments against ACC competition in the last 10 years:
Men’s soccer defeats Clemson in 2022 ACC title game
After starting the season unranked and projected to finish fourth in the ACC’s Atlantic Division, then-No. 3 Syracuse beat then-No. 18 Clemson 2-0 in Cary, North Carolina last November to win the ACC Tournament. In the preseason, head coach Ian McIntyre had even voted for Clemson to win the conference.
“No one believed in us,” midfielder Lorenzo Boselli said postgame. “We knew we could go and do something special.”
Goals from Giona Leibold and Boselli lifted the Orange to victory as they secured their tenth shutout of the season. Syracuse later concluded its 14-game unbeaten streak with its first-ever National Championship, defeating Indiana 2(7)-2(6) in penalty kicks a few weeks later.
Women’s lacrosse wins first ACC title in 2015, later advances to Final Four
In double overtime with 1:30 remaining on the clock, Kayla Treanor was the hero. Treanor, who’s now the head coach of the Orange, notched the game-winning goal over North Carolina to give the Orange their first ACC Tournament title in 2015.
“All throughout the year, I had the opportunity to say we could beat anybody and we could lose to anybody,” then-SU head coach Gary Gait said. “And you know what? This week was our week, and we beat ‘em all.”
The Orange had avenged regular-season losses to Duke and Boston College in their previous two tournament games. Syracuse eventually reached the Final Four that season, falling to No. 1 Maryland.
Daily Orange File Photo
Kayla Treanor’s game-winner over UNC in 2015 clinched SU’s first ACC Tournament Championship win.
Men’s basketball pulls off comeback win over Virginia to reach 2016 Final Four
Syracuse trailed by 16 a minute into the second half against the top-seeded Cavaliers. Ten minutes later, it still trailed by 15 — Virginia seemingly comfortably with a 54-39 lead with 9:32 remaining. A comeback seemed improbable.
But six minutes later, the Orange were ahead. A 15-0 run boosted Syracuse in front with a 64-58 lead, spearheaded by Malachi Richardson, who notched 21 of his 23 points in the second half. Syracuse, with a 68-62 win, advanced to the 2016 Final Four, where it fell to ACC foe North Carolina.
“I mean, I thought we deserved to be in the Tournament,” Boeheim said postgame. “But I certainly didn’t — I wasn’t planning on getting to the Final Four.”
Courtesy of Stephen D. Cannerelli | syracuse.com
SU advanced to the 2016 Final Four after a come-from-behind win over Virginia.
Field hockey wins 2015 ACC regular-season title, spearheads national championship
On Oct. 24, 2015, No. 1 Syracuse defeated No. 4 Duke 1-0 in overtime, capping off a perfect 16-0 regular season that saw them win all six conference games, including a 6-0 shutout of then-No. 6 Wake Forest. The victory gave SU the regular-season conference title.
Though the Orange fell in the ACC Tournament to North Carolina, they avenged that defeat in the 2015 national championship, beating the Tar Heels 4-2 and becoming SU’s first-ever — and still only — women’s program to win a national title. They also were the first women’s team to finish undefeated in the regular season.
“To be the first women’s team to bring it home, it’s pretty special,” then-senior Emma Russell said.
Football improves to 6-0 with 2022 win over NC State, mimics 2017 upset of Clemson
A day before No. 18 Syracuse played No. 15 NC State, fans told Mikel Jones on Marshall Street that they’d storm the field if SU beat the Wolfpack. Jones didn’t believe them, but they did. The Orange, picking up their first ranked win in over four years, bested NC State 24-9 in a game where SU didn’t score a touchdown for 42 minutes.
Fans flooded the field of the JMA Wireless Dome, similar to when the Orange upset then-No. 2 Clemson in 2017, as Syracuse improved to 6-0 and became bowl eligible for the first time since 2018. Two weeks earlier, the Orange secured a 5-0 start for the first time since 1987 in what ultimately turned out to be an up-then-down year.
“There’s a lot of goals that are still out there, but there’s one goal that’s been checked,” head coach Dino Babers said.
Jacob Halsema | Staff Photographer
Oronde Gadsden II (right) celebrates with Carlos Vettorello (left) after scoring an opening drive touchdown against NC State.
Men’s cross country wins 2015 ACC, NCAA Championships
In October 2015, No. 2 Syracuse secured its third of five-straight ACC Championships, a streak that extends to six conference championships, including the 2012 Big East Championship. SU also won the 2019 ACC Championship.
The Orange, led by Justyn Knight, Collin Bennie and Martin Hehir, finished with 46 points, well ahead of No. 12 NC State (95) and No. 7 Virginia (115), among others. The title was only a stepping stone in Syracuse’s path to the top, as it won the national title three weeks later. The same trio carried the Orange, who reached the podium for the first time since 1951.
2023 women’s varsity 8 wins 1st ACC title in program history
A few months ago, Syracuse women’s rowing won its first varsity 8 ACC Championship, edging out Virginia by 0.8 seconds on Lake Wheeler in North Carolina. The crew — coxswain Hannah Murphy, Annika Maxson, Alena Criss, Izabela Krakic, Kamile Kralikaite, Ellie-Kate Hutchinson, India Aikens, Martyna Kazlauskaite and Emmie Frederico — had won their preliminary heat, too.
The Cavaliers took home the team championship with the cumulative scores from all boats’ finishes. The Orange finished second, but the varsity 8 helped them earn an at-large NCAA Championship berth and multiple top-ten rankings over the 2023 season.
Meghan Hendricks | Senior Staff Photographer
SU women’s rowing won its first varsity 8 conference title, beating Virginia by less than a second.
Men’s lacrosse wins back-to-back ACC Tournaments with 2016 win
After a two-hour and 57-minute weather delay with 7:10 remaining, Syracuse, up 9-8, outscored Duke by five goals in the final stretch to secure its second-straight ACC Championship, winning 14-8. A year earlier in 2015, SU outlasted the Blue Devils again, coming back from a 6-2 deficit to win 15-14.
“Really an interesting day between the regular game and coming out for the last seven minutes,” then-head coach John Desko said after the 2016 win.
Syracuse later reached the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals for three consecutive seasons from 2015-17. In 2017, the Orange were conference regular-season champions. This stretch marks the best run that SU’s had while being in the ACC.
Daily Orange File Photo
Syracuse defeated Duke in 2015 and 2016 for two ACC Tournament titles in a row.
Women’s lacrosse defeats UVA in 2014 Final Four
In just one season as a member of the ACC, the Orange advanced to the national championship game with a comfortable 16-8 win over Virginia in Towson, Maryland. Treanor and Alyssa Murray, who were both Tewaaraton finalists, combined for 16 points.
“Back to the championship is a great feeling, I mean this is what we work for,” Murray said postgame.
The win put Syracuse back in the national championship, a game that it had lost two years earlier. The Orange ultimately fell once again to No. 1 Maryland, but the Orange have consistently remained one of the top programs in the conference and the country.
John Gillon’s buzzer-beater snaps Duke’s 7-game win streak
Syracuse’s John Gillon blitzed down the court as the clock winded down in February 2017 against Duke. In a span of three seconds, he found himself shooting between three Duke defenders, banking the top-of-the-key 3-pointer and giving SU a 78-75 buzzer-beater win.
“I was like, ‘Alright, I gotta go make a play,’” Gillon said. “I’m going to try and be a stone-cold killer every game.”
Within seconds, the Dome court was stormed by fans as the team swarmed the scorer’s table. The win snapped the Blue Devils’ seven-game winning streak while ending SU’s three-game losing streak.
Honorable mentions
– Women’s basketball (30-8, 13-3 ACC) finished runner-up in the 2016 NCAA Tournament after finishing third in the conference in the regular season.
– Volleyball won 14 conference games in 2018 and tied most ACC wins in program history, leading to first — and only — NCAA Tournament appearance.
– Women’s lacrosse shared the regular-season conference title with Boston College in 2023, earning the No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament and reaching the Final Four.
– Men’s soccer won the 2015 ACC Tournament as the No. 7 seed. It reached the College Cup for the first time behind future World Cup players Kamal Miller and Tajon Buchanan, of Canada.
– Football finished second in ACC’s Atlantic Division in 2018, behind Clemson. Quarterback Eric Dungey led the Orange (10-3, 6-2 ACC) to the Camping World Bowl.
