Katelyn Mashewske records career-high 14 draw controls in 22-7 win over Temple

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Emily Hawryschuk had just scored her first goal of the day on a close-range shot after receiving a pass from Emma Tyrrell to make Syracuse’s lead five goals. The goal sent both two teams back to the draw circle where Katelyn Mashewske faced Temple’s Riley McGowan. Mashewske and McGowan both sent the ball high into the air, but Mashewske was able to collect it as it fell down.

Mashewske then sped down the left side of the Owls’ half and quickly led the Orange’s transition attack. She then slightly turned her head to the right and saw Emma had a step on defender Katie Shallow. With this opening, Mashewske sent the ball down to Emma who ran into the 8-meter all alone and fired a shot that beat Annie Carroll, helping SU score two goals in less than 20 seconds.

Emma’s second-quarter goal was her fourth of the game, but it was also Mashewske’s first point of the season as the specialist was given the assist. SU head coach Kayla Treanor said that it was critical that Mashewske had become better at playing her role in the transition offense.

“She’s really starting to be a threat in transition, which is huge for a person that takes the draw throughout the game,” Treanor said.

Treanor described Mashewske as a “dual-threat” player, who can win at the draw and push the transition. The junior played this role well today with a career-best 14 draw controls in No. 5 Syracuse’s (8-2, 4-0 Atlantic Coast) 22-7 win over Temple (7-4). At various points this season, Mashewske has struggled as the Orange’s designated draw control specialist. But her performance against the Owls on Saturday highlighted her dominant stretch as of late.

With an attack that is one of the most efficient in the country, Mashewske has gotten many opportunities at the circle. However, she has struggled, especially against some of the top teams and draw specialists in the country. Against Duke’s Maddie Jenner, who has the most draw controls in the country, Mashewske recorded only two wins. This came after a game where the native of Henrietta, New York, won at the draw only once in an overtime loss to Northwestern.

But at the end of SU’s road trip against Virginia Tech, Mashewske improved. She won 11 draw controls in a performance that Treanor highlighted during the postgame of the 17-5 victory.

While Mashewske went up against McGowan to continue the Orange’s hot stretch during the second quarter, her regular opponent during the afternoon was Temple’s specialist Belle Mastropietro. In the opening draw of the game, Mashewske set the tone of what was to come with a win over the Owls’ leading scorer with her first win of the day. However, Mashewske’s passing hurt her initially when she turned the ball over after Shallow blocked the pass. The turnover eventually led to Temple’s first goal of the day, forcing Mashewske back to the circle.

Mashewske took on Mastropietro and once again, the junior won. But this time, her win and her passing created the first offensive spark of a dominating offensive game from the Orange. After the win, she faced instant pressure from Shallow and Mastropietro.

Mashewske was forced to use her lesser-dominant hand to flip a pass forward to Emma. Emma took Mashewske’s pass and sprinted down the left side of the field. And once she made it to the 8-meter, the native of Mount Sinai, New York, dodged two Owl defenders to score her first goal and tie the game at one.

During the postgame, Emma said how she and Mashewske had such great communication in the game, especially when on the transition.

“She had a really good flow tonight,” Emma said. “It was awesome playing with her because I knew exactly what she was doing the whole time.”

Of the 10 draws in the opening quarter, the Owls only won twice while Mashewske won seven of them as defender Sarah Cooper won the other one for the Orange. At the start of the second quarter, Mastropietro got the better of Mashewske. But like the first 15 minutes of play, Mashewske responded, which led to more Syracuse goals.

Following a McGowan goal that come off of that Mastropietro draw control, Mashewske got into her bent-down stance against Camryn Zavacky. Relative to her draws against Mastropietro, SU’s draw specialist sent the ball pretty low into the air, which threw off Zavacky and gave SU possession. On the ensuing possession, Syracuse set up its weave formation, which led to Meaghan Tyrrell scoring her 36th goal of the year, making the score 8-3.

After Meaghan’s goal, Mashewske remained consistent during the rest of the afternoon, finishing with only one fewer draw control than the entire Temple team combined. But while players like Cooper and Emma had experience on the draw throughout the year, SU was giving draw attempts to players like Jenny Markey, who had only four draw controls before the game.

Still, this does not mean the Orange didn’t stop using Mashewske and it also didn’t mean that her attack wasn’t creating goals anymore. In the fourth quarter, when Syracuse was already up by 15 goals, Mashewske went to the circle for the second-to-last time, where she took on McGowan. Like in the second quarter, Mashewske flung the ball up high, giving the ball the spin necessary to fall into her stick.

Mashewske then sent a long pass down the middle of the field to Natalie Smith, who sprinted toward Carroll. Smith then sent a pass to her right to Maddy Baxter, who scored on a bounce shot. With just under nine minutes left in the fourth quarter, it would be Syracuse’s final goal of the day and Mashewske’s final draw control of the day.

“It seems to me that every game she’s getting a little better,” Treanor said. “So we’re very proud of her performance today.”