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Were they struggling in the early days, or were they No. 1 at the time? 1 Northwestern suffered his second loss in overtime to the then No. 1 team. Inconsistent play hampered Syracuse's 3-3 start to the season, including an inability to pull away in the fourth quarter against No. 9 Maryland and No. 12 Stony Brook.
University head coach Kayla Treanor has preached all year that she wants her team to play a complete game, but she said the only time the Orange accomplished that was against Duke on March 2. .
“If we put everything together and play a complete game, we'll be at the top,” Syracuse midfielder Natalie Smith said on Feb. 20.
In Blacksburg, the Orange put it all together from start to finish. No. 5 Syracuse (4-3, 3-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) never trailed, winning 15-5 against Virginia Tech (5-3, 1-2 ACC). did. SU dominated in every aspect of the match, conceding the fewest goals while securing their second double-digit win of the season. To remain undefeated in ACC play, the Orange's offense was led by Emma Ward, who scored a season-high six points (three goals, three assists).
Unlike Tuesday, when it took nearly seven minutes for the Orange to score the first goal against Stony Brook, he entered the game immediately against Virginia Tech. Just over a minute into the game, SU midfielder Maddie Baxter dashed into the crease and scored the first goal of the game.
Syracuse held off Virginia Tech's offense and had consecutive free position opportunities, but was unable to capitalize on either opportunity. Smith made a cross-crease pass from 12 meters without taking a shot, resulting in a turnover.
However, VT's Kayla Downey turned the ball over on the other end and SU midfielder Joely Carameli drew a shooting space foul at the Hokies' crease. However, Carameli's shot from a free position hit the pipe, wasting the chance.
However, even though Syracuse missed opportunities on offense, the defense continued to get off to a great start. At 9:21 of the first quarter, Virginia Tech's Mary Griffin took the first shot on goal. Delaney Sweitzer has struggled so far this season, saving just 39.5 percent of his shots in Saturday's contest, but the reigning Inside Lacrosse Goaltender of the Year deflected Griffin's shot.
The Hokies held the ball, but the Orange defense stepped up again, causing one of seven forced turnovers in the first quarter. This gave Syracuse a chance to break free from a successful clearance, but Peyton Lowry missed the post.
While SU's offense seemed to continue to struggle early in Blacksburg (they scored two goals in the first quarter vs. Stony Brook), the Orange scooped up the rebound and gave them another chance. Ward then scored near the crease to give Syracuse a 2-0 lead seven minutes into the game.
Kate Maewski won the tie, but the Hokies quickly forced a turnover. But SU's Katie Goodale reacted immediately, forcing a turnover of his own and getting the ball back. This allowed the Orange to move the ball around the VT defense, with Smith receiving the ball on the left side along 8 meters.
Smith, Syracuse's second-leading scorer despite scoring just two goals in the past two games, made her way to the center 8 meters before firing a wide shot past Joselyn Torres. , giving SU a 3-0 lead by five points. :20 minutes left in the first quarter.
Over the next three minutes, both defenses played strong, but a sharp pass from Smith to Olivia Adamson from a free position scored the Syracuse leading scorer's first of three goals, giving SU gave them a 4-0 lead.
In the final minute of the quarter, after Delaney parried a shot from a free position, defender Harry Simkins picked up a grounder and successfully cleared it. The Orange successfully completed 23 of their 27 attempts throughout the match. This drew a foul from Baxter 20 seconds later and he took a shot from free position to extend SU's lead to 5-0.
Mashewski, who won a season-tying 11 draws, was instrumental in Goodale's victory, although he didn't win any subsequent draws. Through the first quarter, the Orange won five draws, 7-7, with SU winning 13 of the 23 total ties. And the fifth win came with Carameli's second goal of his collegiate career with 17 seconds left in the first quarter.
Leading 6-0 after 15 minutes, it was the first time SU did not allow a goal in the first quarter since April 13, 2021.
Just as the first quarter ended, the second quarter began with a draw control victory. Mathewske broke the tie herself and set up Savannah Sweitzer's goal 30 seconds into the quarter.
Virginia Tech took a 2-0 lead, but the Orange never allowed the Hokies to gain momentum from there. After nearly 10 minutes of sluggish scoring, Adamson got SU back on the board with a shot from free position 3:52 before halftime. Savannah then scored his second goal a minute later, giving Syracuse a 9-2 lead that they held until halftime.
“What we need to continue to work on is putting our whole game together and not having a wall when we come out of halftime where we looked really flat and unfocused,” Treanor said in February. He spoke after the SU vs. Army game on the 14th.
At the time, I was against it. Syracuse had the upper hand, winning 18-7. Still, when the Orange finished the third quarter 2-2, Treanor was upset that his team was out of halftime.
Against the Hokies, SU similarly fell behind in the third quarter and was held scoreless for 10 minutes. But in the final five minutes of the quarter, Ward scored twice and Adamson added another, giving Syracuse a 13-3 lead heading into the third quarter.
Throughout the fourth quarter, the Orange slowed the pace of their attack and brought in a young lineup to close out the game, but still managed a 10-goal victory with the score tied 2-2 at half-way through.
“We were really focused on this game…we wanted to bounce back from the last game,” Treanor said after the game. “Overall, (I'm) proud of them. It's a tough conference, but they're a good team.”
Published March 9, 2024 at 2:33 p.m.
Contact Justin: [email protected] | @JustinGirshon
