Fast reaction: 3 takeaways from No. 7 Syracuse’s blowout loss to No. 2 Notre Dame
Logan Reidsma | Senior Staff Photographer
Check out three quick observations from SU's blowout loss to ACC rival Notre Dame.
No. 7 Syracuse (5-3, 1-2 Atlantic Coast) lost its third straight game in a 17-7 loss to No. 2 Notre Dame (7-1, 2-0) on Saturday afternoon in the Carrier Dome. It’s the first time since 2007, a season in which the Orange finished with a losing record, that the SU has lost three in a row. Syracuse never led in the game.
Here are three observations from the contest.
On target
Notre Dame came into Saturday’s game with a shooting percentage of 28.2, which was second to last in the conference. But the Fighting Irish ratcheted up the efficiency on Saturday in its dominating win.
In the first half, Notre Dame scored nine times on 18 shots, including a hat trick for Matt Kavanagh that came in a span that lasted a little bit more then two minutes.
The Orange only scored consecutive goals once the entire game, and that came early in the third quarter. But Notre Dame responded to that and ended the quarter with its largest lead of the game to that point, up 14-7.
Notre Dame forced SU head coach John Desko to pull goalie Warren Hill early in the fourth quarter after he struggled mightily, but backup Evan Molloy still conceded three goals in the quarter.
Join the club
After going through the first period without a point, senior attack Dylan Donahue walked over to the far side of the field as SU was starting the quarter on a man-up opportunity. Thirteen seconds later, he took a pass from Sergio Salcido and rifled in a goal to make it 5-3.
The goal was Donahue’s 200th career point. He’s the 17th player in program history to reach the plateau. It also extended his streak of consecutive games with goals to 33. Donahue joined the records book on the day Syracuse honored the program’s 100th anniversary.
Hello, Goodbye
Nick Piroli returned to the field for a couple of possessions midway through the third quarter. It’s the first game he’s played in since the season-opening win against Siena after missing the last six due to a lower-body injury. He didn’t record any stats in the game.
Later in the third quarter, senior midfielder Tom Grimm went down on the ground after it looked like his knee buckled. He crawled a little bit before managing to hobble off the field. He didn’t return to the game after.
Published on April 2, 2016 at 7:21 pm
Contact Tomer: tdlanger@syr.edu | @tomer_langer
