Kailah Kempney prepared herself for the biggest draw of the game as the first overtime period came to a close with Syracuse holding a one-goal lead. She stepped into the circle, locked sticks with Loyola’s Taryn VanThof and waited for the whistle.

After a couple agonizing seconds, she launched the ball into the air. Then, as it slowly fell back to earth, she calmly took possession, cradling the ball into her stick.

And just like that, she had put the Orange in position to close out another tight game.

Only six days after Maryland shut her out in the finals of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament, Kempney responded by winning seven draws to help No. 2 Syracuse (18-2, 6-1 ACC) escape with a thrilling 14-12 overtime victory against No. 11 Loyola (15-5, 8-0 Patriot) on Senior Day in the Carrier Dome. That total marked her best performance since winning the same amount on April 15 against Cornell.

When the Orange needed her most, she helped her team come away with three critical possessions during the two extra frames.

“It’s in overtime, so draws are so critical and our whole team is waiting so that they can put the ball in the back of the net,” Kempney said. “It’s critical in those final minutes, and you really have to focus.

“It’s the most important part of the game.”

Both Kempney and senior Kirkland Locey began the game on fire, as the two combined to help SU win the first 10 draws of the game. It was the exact opposite of this past Sunday, when Maryland’s Taylor Cummings stymied the two of them all afternoon. 

But early on, Kempney could tell the draw style of VanThof was one the Orange could exploit. She did, repeatedly plucking the ball from the air off her own backward lobs.

“They used different hand stuff, height wise,” Kempney said. “Having a different girl to go against definitely helped our confidence a little bit.”

Syracuse built a 7-5 halftime lead off the fast start, but VanThof rallied Loyola in the second frame. The Greyhounds came away with nine of 13 draws and took advantage of a sloppy SU attack to send the game to overtime.

Loyola head coach Jen Adams credited her draw specialist for giving Kempney a fight as the game went on.

“It was a bit of a shock for (VanThof),” said Adams in regard to the slow start. “I just think she couldn’t find a rhythm early in the game. The fact that we went back to her out of a timeout gave her some confidence.”

But Kempney had yet to deliver the biggest blows of the game.

After SU took the lead in overtime, Kempney shoveled the ensuing draw to teammate Kayla Treanor, allowing the Orange to drain the rest of the first three-minute block.

Then, following her key win to start the second, the junior helped seal the victory. As the final draw of the game with 1:52 remaining pinballed around the turf, she knocked the ball from Loyola’s Morgan Holleran and picked it up herself.

Moments later, Kempney ran out with the rest of the Orange for a victory hug near the 30-yard line.

“We had a bit of a lull in there where it wasn’t necessarily the draw people, but we weren’t getting that loose ball or 50-50,” Syracuse head coach Gary Gait said. “Second half on, when we needed some we got some, and that was key.”

Published on May 3, 2014 at 6:29 pm