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ierra Cockerille and two Virginia players scrambled to get their sticks on a loose ball, which flew into the air. Amid the scrum, Emma Tyrrell sprinted from the midfield line and snatched the ball, raising her stick with her left hand. She strengthened her grip by grabbing the stick with her right hand and she shot the ball from close range without hesitation.
The ball flew past the Virginia goalkeeper, and Tyrrell threw her stick down to the ground emphatically. Her goal helped Syracuse come back from a four-goal deficit and earn a 15-12 win against the seventh-ranked Cavaliers.
At the time, Tyrrell occasionally scored goals, since as a midfielder, her role was to control the draw and distribute. But after Megan Carney tore her ACL four games later, Gary Gait asked Tyrrell to make her first start of the season at attack.
She finished the 2021 season as Syracuse’s fourth-highest goal scorer and was instrumental in leading SU to the NCAA title game against Boston College. Before she became a fixture in the Orange’s offense, Tyrrell took a “different path” to develop her skills, her high school coach Al Bertolone said. With her older sister Meaghan Tyrrell around to complement her game, she has become a versatile player for the team all over the field.
In her hometown of Mount Sinai, New York, lacrosse’s prominence influenced Tyrrell to first pick up the game in third grade, she said. By the time she was a freshman in high school, Tyrrell earned a spot on Mount Sinai’s varsity team. Bertolone said Tyrrell was known for her scrappy play but a lot of the attention went to Meaghan, who was named an All-American and Long Island Player of the Year.
Still, Tyrrell had her moments when she stood out on her own, aiding the team wherever it needed on the field. As a freshman, she primarily played draw control and gave her team a boost coming off the bench, though she would be taken out shortly after, Bertolone said.
At the Suffolk County championship game against Bayport-Blue Point High School, Mount Sinai needed defensive help against Kerrigan Miller — one of the best recruits in the country — and Tyrrell solely focused on guarding Miller.
“I don’t know if (Miller) scored a goal honestly,” Peter Van Middelem, who coached both Tyrrell and Meaghan as a youth and travel coach, said.
Tyrrell continued playing defensive midfield throughout high school, but both Bertolone and Van Middelem said that Tyrrell had strong stick work. Both said Tyrrell was more skilled in stick work when comparing her and her sister during practices.
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Like when she matched up against Miller in her freshman year, Tyrrell faced current Notre Dame midfielder Kasey Choma in her senior season at Mount Sinai. With then-Syracuse women’s head coach Gary Gait in attendance, Tyrrell held Choma to a low-scoring game, outscoring Choma head-to-head, Van Middelem said.
After a successful high school career, Tyrrell reunited with her sister, who already amassed over 50 points in her freshman season at Syracuse. Having someone like Meaghan on campus helped Tyrrell adjust, but Tyrrell said Meaghan let her figure things out on her own as a defensive presence and draw control specialist for SU.
The sisters’ first season together was cut short due to the pandemic and Tyrrell only got to play in five games, scoring two goals and earning two assists. But in her sophomore year she quickly broke out as a player that was the “real deal,” former teammates said.
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Vanessa Costantino, who played midfield with Tyrrell, said Tyrrell was all over the place against then-No. 4 Loyola. She forced two turnovers and scored twice, including a goal on a behind-the-back shot.
“She’s fancy but not flashy, and she just works so hard,” Costantino said. “She just did so much of the grunt work that when she threw in one of those trick shots, you got really excited for it.”
The sisters were always calm and collected on the field, using different styles of play which allowed their games to complement one another, multiple people said. Tyrrell has an off-ball game and dodges from the top or draw slot, distributing the ball around that area. She uses her speed and angles to get by players while Meaghan plays similar to a traditional attack and relies on her shiftiness with the ball in her stick.
Still, while teams focus on stopping Meaghan in most games, Tyrrell is able to make herself open for Meaghan to find her.
“Any time she has the ball in her stick, I’m very confident in what she’s going to do,” Tyrrell said. “It’s going to be the right decision for a lot of plays that are made.”
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Though Tyrrell remained a defensive midfielder for most of the 2021 season, Meaghan continued to find Tyrrell when she played starting attack for SU against Boston College on April 24. Tyrrell scored the fourth goal of the game when her sister drew in defenders and found a cutting Tyrrell in stride for the shot.
By the end of the game, Tyrrell had tacked on five more goals for a double hat trick, propelling Syracuse to a 16-7 win. Tyrrell also contributed to the defensive end of the field with one ground ball, while tying a team-high with four draw controls.
“Just like for us, when she stood out with the scrappiness and the draw control, she stood out to Gary with her offense, with her stick work,” Bertolone said. “The kid made the most of her opportunity and she did some great things.”
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Photo courtesy of SU Athletics
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