As Syracuse took the ball upfield during a clear attempt, Meaghan Tyrrell broke away. The freshman attacker drifted into space behind the Harvard defense and situated herself directly in front of the crease. Nicole Levy noticed and lofted a pass from the left sideline toward her teammate, who was defended only by Grace Rotondo, Harvard’s goalie.

Rotondo was stuck between knocking away the incoming pass and guarding her goal. She chose neither and simply flung her stick upward, allowing Tyrrell to corral the pass and score.

No. 4 Syracuse (9-2, 2-1 Atlantic Coast) took down Harvard (4-4, 0-1 Ivy League), 15-6, on Tuesday, matching its win total from last season in eight fewer games. After a seven-game slate which included five ranked opponents, the Orange won by their largest margin since Feb. 18. Paced by Emily Hawryschuk’s seventh-straight game with four or more goals, the SU offense took advantage of a number of mistakes by the Crimson defense and often turned them into scores. Syracuse has now defeated Louisville and Harvard — its last two unranked opponents  —  by a combined score of 29-13.

“I look at (unranked opponents) as a great opportunity to dig down,” SU head coach Gary Gait said. “For our starters to go in and stay motivated and continue to grind and work on what we need to work on, to provide opportunities for the rest of their teammates.”

Syracuse’s starters led it on Tuesday, scoring eight goals and causing four turnovers. Even when it looked like the Crimson had stopped the Orange, they hadn’t. On SU’s second possession of the game, Megan Carney’s shot from the eight-meter arc sailed high of the goal and out of bounds. But Harvard failed to earn possession, with Hawryschuk instead getting to the spot first. On the ensuing play, Hawryschuk scored on a question-mark dodge.

Then, four minutes later, Syracuse nearly prevented itself from scoring. After the Crimson turned the ball over due to a dangerous projectile violation, Levy controlled the offense again. She found Mary Rahal for an eventual goal, but Rahal was obstructed by Morgan Alexander, who was right behind her and collided with a Harvard defender after the play.

Harvard kept the game close early on. After falling behind 4-0, it scored a goal that prompted an immediate Orange timeout. Ninety seconds later it poured in another, cutting SU’s lead to two.

“Seeing it was 4-2, we needed a run,” Hawryschuk said. “Knowing that if we stayed smart on offense, if we could stay composed, we would be able to build off of that and have the end score that we did.”

The run, a 6-1 scoring stretch to end the half, began almost 10 minutes later when Alexander was doubled by a pair of Harvard defenders. She jabbed away from the goal at the 12-meter arc while protecting the ball, and the hesitation threw both defenders astray. She converted on the mistake, scoring just inside the left goalpost and tumbling immediately after.

Harvard wouldn’t improve in the second half. After falling behind by 10 goals, the Crimson secured a free position attempt. Grace Hulslander, Harvard’s second-leading scorer, set up on the right side of the goal in an attempt to cut SU’s lead to single-digits. But instead, she missed and drew a “dangerous propelling” foul, called for when a shot hits or endangers another player. It earned Hulslander a yellow card and sent her to the bench. Alexander scored just over a minute later.

With just under 10 minutes to go in the game, Hulslander had another chance to score on a free position shot. It clanged off the right post. Fourteen seconds later she was fouled and earned another attempt. That one was wide. Harvard went scoreless for the next 14 minutes.

The Orange turned in a solid performance against the Crimson and still cruised. In six games against ranked opponents this season, they’ve played up to their foe’s level. Against unranked Harvard on Tuesday, Syracuse didn’t play to its full potential — it didn’t need to.

“We’re getting to see more ACC opponents coming up soon, so wins like these are great,” SU goalie Asa Goldstock said. “(But) games like these, especially these last two, when everyone on the field gets to go in, that’s more rewarding to me than beating an ACC opponent.”

Published on March 19, 2019 at 6:03 pm

Contact Eric: erblack@syr.edu | @esblack34