With heavyweight bouts defining the Sunday women’s lacrosse slate, it was a great opportunity for us to learn more about the teams in contention.

Here’s how it all went down.

SYRACUSE SURGES AFTER EARLY HOLE

It truly was a tale of two halves in the Carrier Dome.

Syracuse faced a seven-goal deficit after the first quarter and trailed by four at halftime, but the Orange buckled down. Five days after an overtime loss to Northwestern, No. 3 Syracuse got five goals from both Meaghan Tyrrell and Megan Carney and came back to defeat No. 7 Duke 18-16.

Syracuse outscored Duke 10-4 in the second half and 11-7 after the first quarter.

Trailing 12-8 after Maddie Jenner scored with five seconds left in the first half, Syracuse (5-1, 2-0 ACC) scored the first four goals of the third quarter — three by Tyrrell and one from Jalyn Jimerson — tying the score at 12. After Veronica Hineman scored for Duke (6-1, 0-1 ACC) Tyrrell and Carney scored back to back.

Still fighting, Duke tied it at 14 on Olivia Carner’s ninth goal of the season, but Syracuse’s dynamic duo again took control. Carney sandwiched a Tyrrell goal with two of her own, giving the Orange a 17-14 lead from which they wouldn’t look back.

But Duke still pressured. Carner’s goal with 3:04 left cut the deficit to 17-16, but Sam Swart iced it for Syracuse with 22 seconds remaining.

NORTH CAROLINA THUMPS NORTHWESTERN

The defense of the second-ranked Tar Heels didn’t buckle under the weight of a Northwestern offense capable of lighting up the scoreboard. Taylor Moreno made 11 saves and UNC forced Northwestern into 12 turnovers as the Tar Heels earned a 20-9 win.

No. 5 Northwestern (4-2) ended a four-game winning streak, which included a thrilling overtime win over Syracuse on Tuesday. North Carolina (6-0) got five goals and one assist from Richmond transfer Sam Geiersbach, two goals and three assists from Jamie Ortega and four goals and one assist from Ally Mastroianni. Mastroianni also controlled nine draws.

UNC led 8-3 at halftime before Northwestern closed the gap to 8-5 on goals from Samantha Smith and Lauren Gilbert to open the third quarter. UNC only led 11-6 after the third period, but the offense exploded for nine goals in the final stanza.

NOTRE DAME CONTINUES TURNAROUND

Even though Sunday’s 12-10 win over No. 13 Virginia was Notre Dame’s first win since its season opener, the Irish have displayed significant signs of a turnaround.

The No. 20 Irish dropped consecutive one-goal games to Northwestern and Syracuse entering their game against Virginia, signs that a breakthrough could be coming. Anchored by a career-high 16 saves from Bridget Deehan, Notre Dame (2-4, 1-1 ACC) withstood a late fourth-quarter push from Virginia (3-4, 0-2 ACC).

Down 11-7, Virginia cut the deficit to three when Jaime Biskup scored with 5:33 remaining. Cailin Field neutralized that goal by scoring 22 seconds later for Notre Dame, but Virginia scored the next two goals, making the score 12-10 with 2:58 left.

NOTABLE

• No. 8 Michigan (7-0) continued its hot start with a 17-13 win over Central Michigan (3-3). Claire Galvin scored four times, and the Wolverines got goals from 11 different players. Audrey Whiteside and Maggie Diebold each scored four times for CMU.

• No. 12 Denver (6-0) got its second win over a ranked opponent this season by dispatching No. 16 Vanderbilt 10-6. Lauren Black and Bea Behrins each had hat tricks for Denver, which limited Vanderbilt (3-2) to three goals in each half.

• No. 15 Drexel (3-2) dropped its second straight game, an 11-6 result against Johns Hopkins at Homewood Field. Georgie Gorelick and Abbey Hurlbrink each recorded hat tricks for Hopkins (4-1). Drexel has been outscored 24-12 in its past two games — Sunday’s loss to Hopkins and Tuesday’s 13-6 loss to Navy.

• Colorado (5-0) got five goals from Charlie Rudy in a 17-13 win over UC Davis in Boulder. Alex Agnew, Grace Gebhardt and Kendall Seifert each scored three times for UC Davis (2-2). An early 8-0 run after UC Davis scored the first goal of the game gave the Buffs enough of a cushion to withstand a scrappy UC Davis team.

HOW THE NIKE/USAL TOP 20 FARED

No. 2 North Carolina defeated No. 5 Northwestern 20-9
No. 3 Syracuse defeated No. 7 Duke 18-16
No. 8 Michigan defeated Central Michigan 17-13
No. 12 Denver defeated No. 16 Vanderbilt 10-6
No. 20 Notre Dame defeated No. 13 Virginia 12-10
Johns Hopkins defeated No. 15 Drexel 11-6

FULL SCOREBOARD

Butler 18, Detroit Mercy 5
Cincinnati 17, Akron 5
Colorado 17, UC Davis 13
No. 12 Denver 10, No. 16 Vanderbilt 6
Johns Hopkins 11, No. 15 Drexel 6
Longwood 21, Howard 10
Mercer 16, UMass Lowell 11
No. 8 Michigan 17, Central Michigan 13
Niagara 12, Marquette 9
No. 2 North Carolina 20, No. 5 Northwestern 9
No. 20 Notre Dame 12, No. 13 Virginia 10
Sacred Heart 14, Delaware State 3
No. 3 Syracuse 18, No. 7 Duke 16