TOWSON, Md. — Syracuse head coach Gary Gait wasted no time in praising his team’s offensive execution in its 16-8 win over Virginia on Friday.

The Orange netted 16 goals on 30 shots, culminating in its largest offensive outburst in a month.

But he also was quick to acknowledge the reason the offense was able to thrive.

“I thought (the defense) did an incredible job causing turnovers and getting us opportunities to build a lead,” Gait said. “When you score and don’t get the draw and the defense gets it back for you, that’s huge.”

Syracuse forced the No. 6-seed Cavaliers (12-9, 3-4 Atlantic Coast) to cough up 17 turnovers, as the defense helped propel second-seeded Syracuse (21-2, 6-1) past Virginia and into the national championship against Maryland at 8:30 p.m. on Sunday.

“It’s just an energy level that the defense brings and the midfielders, they get after you,” Gait said. “They put the pressure on.”

With the second quarter coming to a close, SU defender Maddy Huegel forced the ball loose from Wyatt Whitley.

She threw a pass to Gabby Jaquith who found a cutting Alyssa Murray, who then gave Syracuse a 9-2 lead with 15.7 seconds to go in the half.

The play was highlighted by Murray’s finish and subsequent celebration, but made possible by SU’s stingy defense.

“I think this is the best team defense I’ve seen our defense play,” defender Kasey Mock said. “I think it was definitely a complete team defense. It showed that we were playing as a unit.”

Liza Blue, Virginia’s leading scorer, was held to just one goal and committed four of the Cavaliers’ 17 turnovers.

She was being defended tightly along the perimeter of the 12-meter arc midway through the first half when she tried to pass to Daniela Eppler. But the ball flew over her head and bounced out of bounds.

Good scoring opportunities were few and far between for the Cavaliers all evening.

“They pushed out more than we expected, so the feeds in were a little harder since we were so far out,” Virginia attack Kelly Boyd said. “That was a little tough for us.”

Boyd scored three goals, and said she was the beneficiary of strong passing. She added that she got good looks, just not enough of them.

The defense kept the Cavaliers from having any solid opportunities and was able to force turnovers all game.

And it was those turnovers that propelled the SU offense to 16 goals, hindering any chance of a Virginia comeback.

“They trigger the two-goal swings when you get a turnover down at the other end and you put it in the back of the net,” Gait said. “That happened several times in the first half, in the second half as well.

“It was a solid team effort.”

Published on May 23, 2014 at 11:19 pm

Contact Sam: sblum@syr.edu | @SamBlum3