CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — Cheers of “de-fense” boomed through Klockner Stadium as Syracuse fans simultaneously pounded on the bleachers.

Following three straight North Carolina goals, the Orange needed a stop.

“We had been playing great all game so I just told them to focus on that,” SU goalie Kelsey Richardson said. “What we focus on expands so I think we really stepped up at the end of the game and we came up with a stop.”

Not one, but two in the last 14 seconds of the second half.

Marie McCool’s stick was checked from behind on a free position with 14 seconds left and the ball flew out of bounds. But the Tar Heels got the ball back with two seconds remaining.

Kelly Devlin caught a pass from behind the net, cut to her left and unloaded a potential game-winning shot on Richardson, who reached her stick to her left and saved the ball from heading into the top corner.

Without Richardson and the rest of her defense, sixth-seeded Syracuse (14-6, 3-4 Atlantic Coast) wouldn’t have beaten No. 1 seed North Carolina (15-3, 6-1), 9-8, in double overtime of the ACC tournament championship on Sunday afternoon. Kayla Treanor scored the game-winner, but it didn’t happen until after the defense forced UNC to miss 22-of-30 shot attempts.

“They don’t get much respect, certainly no accolades,” Syracuse head coach Gary Gait said. “Coming in, they just stepped up and played great team defense. The middies, the defenders, the goalie, everybody stepped up and played together today.”

Outside of UNC’s 3-0 run at the end of the second half, SU’s defense excelled from the start. On North Carolina’s first possession, Sam McGee stood behind the net waiting for her teammates to set up. But she never had a chance to pass to them, as Mallory Vehar checked the ball out of her stick and behind the endline.

After allowing the Tar Heels to tie the game at three with 11:05 left in the first half, the Orange forced four turnovers and Richardson made three saves the rest of the half.

Syracuse’s bench first turned to greet the defense, which played one of its best halves of the season against one of its most formidable opponents.

“We kept turning over the ball on just passing plays,” UNC head coach Jenny Levy said. “So really (Syracuse’s defense) gave us a hard time early to get any momentum.”

On UNC’s first possession of the second half, Richardson intercepted a pass from McGee for the second time of the game. Halle Majorana scored on SU’s next trip down the field, giving the Orange the lead it would hold onto for most of the half.

On April 11, the Tar Heels drubbed SU to the score of 15-8, the Orange’s biggest loss of the year and two weeks later, Syracuse nearly cut the goals it allowed in half, its second-fewest of the season.

“We continue to stop converting on opportunities we created for ourselves,” Levy said. “At some point it’s going to bite you in the ass — in the butt, sorry — and it did.”

In overtime, the defense got a chance to display its improvement. In the first half of the first overtime, Erica Bodt swatted Maggie Bill’s stick near the restraining line and gave Syracuse the ball back. Minutes later, Bill’s shot was blocked.

After Treanor scored on SU’s first possession of the second overtime, defender Brenna Rainone danced in the center of an SU huddle.

While waiting to receive the championship trophy, the Orange’s starting defense —Vehar, Rainone, Kaeli O’Connor and Haley McDonnell — posed for a photo.

During the postgame press conference, Gait reflected on beating the No. 4-, No. 3- and No. 2-ranked teams in four days and a smile crept over Richardson’s face.

“I think we just started to talk just a little bit more,” Vehar said of what changed in the past two weeks. “We play really strong team defense, it takes everyone. And I think we’re just starting to click.”

Published on April 26, 2015 at 7:30 pm

Contact Paul: pmschwed@syr.edu | @pschweds