Observations from No. 5 SU’s loss to No. 9 Maryland: Lockdown defense, early struggles

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In its season opener against No. 1 Northwestern, Syracuse couldn’t have gotten off to a worse start. Throughout the first quarter, the Wildcats outscored the Orange 8-2 and won 8-of-11 draw controls. SU played better down the stretch, eventually cutting Northwestern’s lead to 15-14 midway through the fourth quarter, but fell 18-15. But in Syracuse’s home opener against No. 18 Army on Wednesday, it was a completely different story.

The Orange scored the game’s first four goals and outscored the Black Knights 8-2 in the first quarter leading to a 18-7 victory. But head coach Kayla Treanor wasn’t satisfied with her team’s play in the second half despite the win.

“Something we need to continue to work on is putting together an entire game,” Treanor said postgame.

Hosting Maryland, Syracuse looked to play its first complete game in 2024. But that didn’t happen. Although the Orange trailed 3-1 in the first quarter it commanded a 4-3 lead at halftime before going into the fourth quarter tied 7-7. After each team scored a goal apiece in the final quarter, Syracuse played its first overtime game of the season ultimately falling in overtime.

Here are some observations from No. 5 Syracuse’s (1-2, 0-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) 9-8 loss versus No. 9 Maryland (2-0, 0-0 Big Ten):

First quarter struggles, again

In their first two games, the Orange had a tale of two first quarters. They struggled against the Wildcats before dominating against the Black Knights. Against the Terrapins, Syracuse looked much like it did in its season opener.

Natalie Smith picked up the opening draw and SU’s offense tried working the ball around Maryland’s zone but it couldn’t find any creases. The possession resulted in a turnover after UMD’s Meghan Ball picked up a ground ball and the Terrapins scored the game’s first goal on the other end.

After Emma Ward misfired high, SU caused a turnover on the defensive end and had three chances to score. Payton Rowley capitalized, maneuvering near the crease to fire a left-handed shot past Emily Sterling. The goal was Rowley’s fifth of the season after scoring four versus Army.

But from there, Syracuse couldn’t put anything together offensively. Maryland won the ensuing draw control and immediately coughed the ball up. But SU’s Mackenzie Rich gave the ball right back and Maryland capitalized, as Maisy Clevenger scored her second goal of the season to regain UMD a 2-1 lead. Maryland scored a minute later, extending its lead to 3-1, a lead it maintained going into the second quarter. The only time Syracuse scored one or fewer goals in the first quarter last season was when it failed to score against North Carolina on April 28.

Draw control adjustments

After Syracuse won 16-of-27 draws against Army, it was a much-improved effort after Northwestern dominated 13-for-37 in its season opener. Despite the improvements versus Army, Treanor noted postgame that the unit has a lot of room to grow.

Kate Mashewske helped SU win the game’s opening draw, but it couldn’t capitalize. On the next three draws, Mashewske was beaten, prompting Treanor to make the switch to Olivia Adamson. Against the Wildcats, Adamson replaced Mashewske in the second quarter before Mashewske took all of the draws in the second half. Against Army, Mashewske was SU’s lone player in the circle.

But after a sluggish start, Adamson replaced Mashewske for the last draw of the first quarter and the entirety of the second quarter. With Adamson in the circle, Syracuse won four of the first half’s last five draws. After Smith controlled the opening draw of the second, Emma Tyrrell scored to cut Maryland’s lead to 3-2. Smith then knotted the score at three after a free-position score and then after Maddy Baxter won the next draw control, Ward scored a free-position shot to give SU its first lead of the game 11 seconds before halftime.

Adamson remained in the circle for the first two draws of the second, but after losing both, Mashewske returned. With Mashewske back in the circle, SU won five of the third quarter’s last six draws.

Despite Mashewske’s draw control success, she lost the first of the fourth quarter and then Adamson replaced her. After Adamson gave SU an 8-7 lead, she helped Baxter control the next draw.

At the end of regulation, Syracuse was winning the draw control 11-9 and opted to have Adamson take the draw at the start of overtime. The move to Adamson worked, as Smith won the draw after picking up a ground ball.

Lockdown defense

After facing Syracuse on Wednesday, Army head coach Michelle Tumolo noted SU’s defense caused extreme struggles and having a goalie like Delaney Sweitzer helps SU’s defensive unit.

Though Maryland converted its first three shots into goals, Sweitzer propelled Syracuse to not allow the next Terrapin goal for another nearly 23 minutes and notched four saves. Late in the second quarter, Sweitzer stopped a Maryland threat by picking up a ground ball and then traveling out of the cage. She then fired a cross-field pass that led to a fastbreak. Syracuse called a timeout after advancing the ball deep into Maryland’s defense before Smith’s free position goal tied the game 3-3.

Both teams picked up offensively, and with the score tied 6-6, Sweitzer notched two saves before Kori Edmondson scored her third goal to give UMD a 7-6 lead with three minutes remaining in the third.

With seven seconds left in the third quarter, Maryland was awarded a free position shot after a yellow card on Kaci Benoit, but it elected not to try Sweitzer. Instead, Libby May, who had two goals, passed the ball out and time expired.

Incomplete performance

When asked postgame following its win versus Army about not losing a quarter throughout the game, Treanor was quick to mention that SU needed to work towards playing a more complete game and that her team could’ve played better in the second half.

But as they did against Northwestern, the Orange were dominated in the first quarter preventing a complete performance. While SU bounced back in the second quarter, it proceeded to lose the third quarter 4-3 taking a 7-7 tie into the fourth quarter.

In a back-and-forth fourth quarter, SU had a chance to take a 9-7 lead but a Sweitzer free position miss turned into a fastbreak score for Hannah Leubecker to knot the score 8-8.

Despite missed offensive opportunities, Syracuse’s defense held strong, allowing it to possess the ball with three minutes remaining deep into Maryland’s territory. Following a yellow card, Syracuse was up a player but UMD forced a shot clock violation. But a defensive stand from Sweitzer and SU’s backline forced overtime.

Though a crucial green card with one second remaining in the first overtime called on Coco Vandiver allowed UMD to possess the ball to open the second overtime and Leubecker proceeded to score the game-winner.