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After losing 18-14 in an upset defeat to Virginia in the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament quarterfinals, Syracuse earned the No. 5 seed in the NCAA Tournament last Sunday. It faced off against unseeded Fairfield in Princeton, New Jersey, as the Orange didn’t meet the NCAA’s lodging requirements to host this the opening two rounds. 

On Friday against the Stags, Syracuse quickly jumped out to 2-0 lead within the first four minutes of the game. But for the remainder of the first quarter, SU wouldn’t score, allowing the Stags to get a 3-2 lead. Eventually, SU developed a 11-6 lead, but the Stags crawled back in the fourth quarter, cutting the deficit to 12-11 with about three and a half minutes left.

After Olivia Conquest saved a Meaghan Tyrrell shot with just under a minute remaining, the Stags had one more opportunity to tie the game. Fairfield missed wide just in front of the cage as SU escaped and advanced to the second round, where it will face the winner of Princeton and UMass.

Here are some observations from No. 5 seed Syracuse (14-5, 6-2 ACC) narrow 12-11 win over Fairfield (13-7, 5-3 Metro Atlantic Athletic):

Adamson, Meaghan lead SU offense

To extend Syracuse’s lead to 10-6 towards the end of the third quarter, Meaghan had the ball on the right side of the eight-meter, similar to her position all season. Olivia Adamson cut down the center of the eight-meter towards the cage and received a pass from Meaghan. Adamson shot the ball to the lower-left of the goal, securing her fourth goal, passing her previous best in a game (three).

She’d later get her fifth goal on the free position, which gave SU an 11-6 lead entering the fourth quarter. Adamson also scored the opening goal of the game, wrapping around Megan Carney and shooting left-handed in the center of the eight-meter.

Meaghan also added a couple goals of her own. In the second quarter, she dodged around Danielle Santora with nasty hesitation move and shot into the top right of the net. The goal tied the game at 3-3, but more significantly, it gave Meaghan her 100th point of the season, becoming the third player in program history to reach 100 points in a season multiple times in a career.

Meaghan also scored later in the quarter, dodging from behind the right side of the goal to the center of the cage. She scored and extended SU’s lead to 6-4. In the fourth quarter, she scored on the free position, becoming the sixth player in program history to reach 300 career points.

Sloppy mistakes

In the first half, the Orange made mistakes that cost them possessions or goals. On one play in the first quarter. Adamson dodged from the right side of the offensive zone into the eight-meter. She launched a hard, high pass to Emily Hawryschuk, who jumped, caught the pass and shot the ball into the net. But she landed in the crease which overturned the goal giving the ball back to the Stags.

After winning the draw following SU’s opening goal, draw specialist Kate Mashewske started running toward the offensive zone but as she approached, she thought she had Meaghan open to cross the line. On the pass, the Stags intercepted it which gave them another free possession. SU had a slow start early on, only scoring two goals in the opening 15 minutes, though outshooting Fairfield.

The Orange also gave up a goal it shouldn’t have. Goalkeeper Kimber Hower made a nice save on a Stag free position shot. As she retreated into her cage, the ball was never actually secured in her stick. She realized too late when a Fairfield attack picked up the ball and scored the easiest goal of the game, which cut the Stags’ deficit to 6-5.

In the third quarter, Bianca Chevarie attempted a deep pass to clear the offensive zone. The pass went nowhere near an Orange player and gave the ball back to Fairfield, which would allow Libby Rowe to score on the free position on the ensuing possession.

Another slow start, but better finish

It had seemed when SU jumped out to a 2-0 lead and won the first five of six draw controls, it was well on its way to an easy first round victory. But after its two first goals, Syracuse didn’t score for the remainder of the first quarter as it consistently missed shots, causing them to trail 3-2.

But in the second quarter, Syracuse started to get its attack going. It scored six goals in the period, tripling the amount of the Stags, and it built an 8-5 lead by halftime. To regain the lead after giving up a 3-0 run, Carney had the ball behind the net and launched a crossfield pass to a cutting Adamson who scored to give SU a 4-3 lead.

And to open the second-half scoring, Jenny Markey started dodging from the top of the eight-meter towards the right side. Instead, she spun, forcing Elizabeth Talluto to lose her balance which created enough separation for Markey to score. SU extended its lead to 9-5, its largest at that point.

Surprising two-keeper system used

Against Virginia, Hower and second-string goalie Delaney Sweitzer combined for one save, allowing 18 goals. That’s been the typical two-goalie rotation used in the event Hower doesn’t play the whole game.

Tonight, Hower improved significantly, making seven saves through 48 minutes of play. She only allowed six goals through three quarters, too. But to start the fourth quarter, head coach Kayla Treanor elected to use Hannah van Middelem, who’s only played in one other game this season — a 23-6 win over Binghamton.

Fairfield scored two quick goals to start the fourth-quarter against van Middelem, cutting the deficit to 11-8. Meaghan responded, but with just over seven minutes left, the Stags scored. And then, Rowe scored again two minutes later to make it a 12-10 game.

The Stags clawed back from a five-goal deficit to trail just 12-11 with 3:36 left. Following that goal, Hower returned for the remainder of the game and the Stags’ final shot in the waning seconds went wide to keep the SU victory.

Published on May 13, 2022 at 6:45 pm

Contact Cole: colebambini@gmail.com | @ColeBambini