ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Syracuse had already been defending for much of Saturday’s first-round NCAA tournament game against Michigan. But with about 20 minutes left in the contest, SU’s task to defend became harder. Elaine Carey, who had played almost every minute of the game in the SU midfield, got involved in some sort of post-play altercation with a Michigan defender. One of the referees spotted something and pulled out a red card directed at Carey.

Roos Weers and Laura Hurff both rushed toward the official with their arms upraised in disbelief. Carey simply jogged off the field and sat down in the chair designated for card recipients on the sideline and put her head down. After the game, Hurff, Lies Lagerweij and SU head coach Ange Bradley were all unsure what drew the call.

“Even if we did see it, it’s completely up to the refs,” Hurff said. “I mean none of us saw it, unfortunately, so there was nothing we could do about it.”

No. 14 seed Syracuse (12-7, 2-4 Atlantic Coast) could not overcome being a man down for over 20 minutes as No. 3 seed Michigan (20-2, 8-0 Big Ten) found the back of the net in overtime to hand SU a 1-0 loss at Ocker Field on Saturday. The first red card given to the Orange all season came in a win-or-go-home game on the road.

SU normally plays with three forwards, one playing centrally and two on the wings. After the red card, Syracuse decided to use just two forwards, keeping its defensive shape intact. In a game which featured almost zero offensive chances for Syracuse, losing one of its forwards meant that the final 19-plus minutes of regulation were controlled by Michigan.

“We just knew we couldn’t still have our three forwards,” Hurff said. “If we did that we’d have a gap in the middle so we brought someone back.”

As the Wolverines looked to breakdown the Orange defense, every Syracuse player positioned themselves behind the ball. On a few occasions, Michigan’s center back Katie Trombetta received a pass near the midfield line and just dribbled the ball up toward the 25-yard line marked on the turf. It was only as she approached that line, with Syracuse’s defense tightly packed, that the front of the Orange formation engaged. And in regulation, it worked.

The effects of the red card were magnified in overtime. Instead of Syracuse having 10 players to play against Michigan’s 11, it was now six-on-seven.

“We decided to put a lot more pressure on because we were one up so we didn’t have to have a cover,” Michigan’s Meg Dowthwaite said. “We just decided to go all out and I think that showed, especially in the last 10 minutes. We were all over them.”

Syracuse was forced to defend in the center part of the field, opening up space on the wings. So when Michigan’s Esther de Leijer carried the ball up the left wing just over a minute into overtime, she had room to operate. Using the side of the stick, she sent a cross in front of the goal. Dowthwaite got a bit of space near the penalty spot and deflected the ball past Borg van der Velde’s right side on a rolling path into the goal.

Michigan rushed the field as Syracuse players put their heads in their hands. The lack of one player on the field in overtime to cover the wide area eventually ended Syracuse’s season.

“These kids played their hearts out,” Bradley said. “They wanted to win and they came to win here today and when you have five versus six, the weak side, it’s tough to cover everything.”

Michigan entered the NCAA tournament ranked eighth in the country in scoring, at 3.19 goals per game. Syracuse pushed the scoreless game to overtime even while playing about 20 minutes down a player. The Orange displayed the proficiency of its third-ranked defense in the country – by goals against average. But, the one-player deficit eventually did the Orange in.

“We came and we did our business and unfortunately did not go our way in the end,” Hurff said, “but no other team is going to play 18 minutes down a player and not give up a goal.”

Published on November 11, 2017 at 2:56 pm

Contact Billy: wmheyen@syr.edu | @Wheyen3