CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — First Riley Donahue fired a bouncing shot that went out of bounds instead of in the North Carolina goal. Then Kayla Treanor made a pivot and released a shot that was saved by Caylee Waters. Nineteen seconds later, Devon Collins attempted one wide to the right.

By the time Halle Majorana turned the ball over with 14 minutes to go in the first half, Syracuse had missed six consecutive scoring chances. And the Orange deficit remained at two.

“We didn’t show up to play today,” said a quiet and monotone head coach Gary Gait. “It’s one of those times where it’s been a long couple of months, and we showed up and we think everything is ready to go and you plan for it. We stepped on the field and I thought we played a little nervous.”

No. 6 Syracuse (9-6, 2-4 Atlantic Coast) dropped a 15-8 decision to No. 2 North Carolina (12-2, 5-1) at Fetzer Field. It was the most lopsided loss since February 2013 for Syracuse and was the fourth conference loss of the season for the Orange. The previous three came by a combined three goals. On Saturday, though, Syracuse had trouble keeping the game as competitive.

Syracuse only registered 17 shots on goal, third worst on the season. Its 16 turnovers were tied for the fourth most on the year. SU even struggled on free positions, converting on just two of its six shots.

“Whether they showed up or not, we’re happy with the fact that we showed up and gave a top-notch performance against an ACC opponent,” UNC head coach Jenny Levy said. “… If you don’t show up, yeah you’ll get beat, but so will we if we don’t show up.”

Levy said the game plan was to focus on Treanor and Majorana. She was quick to compliment her defense and note that two of Syracuse’s goals came on free-position attempts, while three more came in transition.

Treanor converted on just two of her seven shots and appeared frustrated at points. After she attempted to pick up a ground ball behind the Syracuse goal, she was called for a foul and shrugged her shoulders questioningly at the referees.

“It’s never fun to lose,” Treanor said. “But the game’s over now.”

Treanor’s demeanor was mirrored by the the Syracuse bench, which was given a yellow card with 13:28 to play in the second half. It was unclear what the cause was, and Gait refused to comment on it.

With 22 minutes left in the game, a Collins and Lisa Rogers run-out ended with a missed shot by Rogers and an Orange bench begging for some sort of call against the Tar Heels.

“You know what,” Gait said. “That’s just an ongoing thing.”

After the game, Gait answered questions with short phrases. His voice was faint. The Orange players didn’t talk to media until 40 minutes after the game ended.

Syracuse had allowed the most goals it had all season and scored the second fewest of the year as well.

“A lot of things didn’t go our way today,” Gait said. “It’s just the way the ball bounces, as they say.”

Published on April 11, 2015 at 3:50 pm

Contact Sam: sblum@syr.edu | @SamBlum3