A career-night from junior Sierra Cockerille powered No. 2/2 Syracuse (4-0, 2-0) to victory against No. 4/4 Notre Dame (2-1, 0-1) by a score of 18-14 on Thursday night in the Carrier Dome. The Orange never trailed during the contest and secured 21 draw controls to Notre Dame's 13 en route to victory. "Notre Dame is a great team," said Syracuse head coach Gary Gait. "They didn't give up and fought all the way. We kept jumping up on them and they kept fighting back. It was a challenge for us and it was nice to see our players step up when we needed them to and put goals in the back of the net." Cockerille led the Orange offense with a career-high five goals and set a new personal standard with seven points. Meaghan Tyrrell (three goals) and Emma Ward (three goals) joined Cockerille with hat tricks, while Sam Swart and Megan Carney each tallied a pair of goals. Carney also doled out a team-best three assists on the evening. HOW IT HAPPENED Syracuse started the game with a bang by tallying the first four goals of the contest. Ward wailed a shot past Irish goalkeeper Bridget Deehan to start the stretch and found the back of the net again after Cockerille scored her first goal of the night. Carney capped the scoring streak with another goal to give the 'Cuse an early 4-0 advantage. The teams tallied six goals apiece to close the half, but the Orange opened the second stanza strong by tallying five unanswered scores on goals from five different players. Carney, Cockerille, Swart, Meaghan Tyrrell, and Bianca Chevarie each found the back of the net during the stretch to give Syracuse its largest lead of the night, 15-6, with 24:07 to play in the contest. The Fighting Irish put up five-straight tallies, including two from Madison Mote, over the ensuing 12 minutes to edge back into the contest. However, three unanswered goals from Ward, Swart, and Emma Tyrrell upped the Orange advantage to seven, 18-11, with 5:33 left on the clock. Notre Dame tallied the final three goals of the contest, but it proved too little, too late as the 'Cuse held on for an 18-14 victory.