The potent offensive duo of Michelle Tumolo and Alyssa Murray has garnered attention all season long for Syracuse. Both of the attacks have been named Big East Offensive Player of the Week once this season and have combined for more than 100 points.

On the other end of the field, the Orange defense has been quietly toiling away. The unit has been focused on winning games and keeping that defender’s mentality of doing whatever it takes to do just that.

‘It’s certainly gratifying for them to step up,’ SU head coach Gary Gait said.

The Orange defense has held firm since the start of the season. SU hasn’t allowed more than 12 goals in a single game. The defense’s stellar season-long performance reached its peak Monday as No. 2 Syracuse held No. 6 Dartmouth to just four goals, breaking its previous best of six goals allowed March 31 against Harvard in Foxborough, Mass.

But the Crimson was unranked. The Big Green is among the best teams in the nation.

‘It was definitely a huge win for us,’ SU defender Becca Block said. ‘I think we really got the win together as a whole team, which feels good. We made a statement.’

In that victory, the Orange defense stole the show from the Big Green’s vaunted defense. Before allowing 22 goals to the Syracuse offense, Dartmouth allowed just 8.89 goals per game, 11th fewest in the nation. The Orange’s wasn’t far behind, as the 14th best scoring defense in the country, but SU’s top-20 offense has diverted attention away from that.

The Big Green’s reputation as the defensive powerhouse added a little bit of extra motivation for the talented Syracuse defense.

‘I think our defense took that as a challenge and said, ‘We’re a solid core,” Gait said. ”We’ve got a great defense. And we can prove it to you.’ And they did.’

The Orange defense has been at its best when it has received help from the offense. During a 15-10 victory over Rutgers on April 7, SU attack Michelle Tumolo felt the offense failed to possess the ball as well as it would’ve liked. 

The struggles to control the ball led to a 10-goal outing from the unranked Scarlet Knights, just the fifth time Syracuse allowed as many goals this season and the first time against an unranked team.

On Monday, that was fixed. With the Orange holding a double-digit halftime lead against Dartmouth, the final 30 minutes were played with a running clock.

The running clock combined with Syracuse’s ability to extend possessions and win the majority of second-half draws to hold Big Green to just six shots in the second half.

‘Last game against Rutgers we didn’t do it so well, so we definitely took that and wanted to change that and do better,’ Tumolo said. ‘And it definitely feels good to beat them because in the past we haven’t really done, so it was really good to beat them.’

Even with the recent performances, the success doesn’t seem to be going to any of the Syracuse defenders’ heads.

After the victory over Dartmouth, Block heaped praise upon stalwart goalkeeping the Orange received from Alyssa Costantino and Kelsey Richardson.

But Costantino tossed that praise right back upon the defense in front of her, crediting it for pressuring shots, gathering 17 ground balls and causing nine turnovers.

‘With the help of the defense,’ Costantino said, ‘… they’re easy saves to make.’

Even with those kind words, Block was modest when speaking of her defense’s accomplishments keeping a defender’s mentality. Her defense just kept doing the dirty work it needed.

‘We got the ball when we needed it in the beginning of the first half,’ Block said. ‘We came up with the ground balls.’

dbwilson@syr.edu