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Following a dominant 22-7 victory over Temple, No. 4 Syracuse continued its four-game home stretch when it hosted an undefeated Loyola on Tuesday in a rematch of the 2021 season opener and NCAA Tournament second round where the Orange defeated the Greyhounds in both games by combined score of 38-14.

It was a defensive battle early on, as both teams only managed one goal apiece in the first 12 minutes of play, though Syracuse led 7-5 at halftime. The Orange extended their lead to 14-9, but just like their games against Northwestern and Notre Dame, their fourth-quarter lead dwindled away as SU escaped with a narrow one-goal victory.

Here are observations from No. 4 Syracuse’s (9-2, 4-0 Atlantic Coast) close 14-13 win over No. 6 Loyola (9-1, 2-0 Patriot League):

Cooper matches up with Rosenzweig

Just 40 seconds into the game, Livy Rosenzweig, the 2021 Patriot League Attacker of the Year, spun left to go turn back right and scored past Kimber Hower. But afterwards, defender Sarah Cooper matched on her man-to-man and limited her scoring threat.

Early in the second quarter, Rosenzweig tried to dodge past Cooper in a similar spot to her first goal. Instead, she shot an ill-advised underhand shot that went nowhere near the goal. The Greyhounds regained possession after the ball went out of bounds, but there wasn’t enough time on the shot clock to develop a meaningful play as their possession ended.

Later in the quarter, Rosenzweig cut down the right side of the 12-meter, but Cooper’s tight defense forced an incompletion. It was common for the Greyhounds to use at least 60 seconds of the shot clock before beginning their offensive attack. The pass nearly rolled all the way to the restraining line before Loyola recovered it. But again, a shot clock violation occurred as a result of Cooper’s strong defense.

But in the third-quarter, Rosenzweig found her usual form. After the Orange extended their lead to 9-6, Rosenzweig responded with two unassisted goals within 40 seconds of each to cut the deficit to one.

Defense holds off late Loyola run

A few Greyhound possessions into the first quarter, Sam Fiedler, matched up against midfielder Tessa Queri, had the ball at the top of the 12-meter and began to dodge. But Fiedler didn’t make any progress, instead having her stick checked by Queri, which allowed Hallie Simkins to secure the ground ball.

In the last minute of the first half, Emma Tyrrell pressured Loyola’s backline as it was trying to clear just past the Greyhounds’ restraining line. The Greyhound defender tried to pass over Emma Tyrrell’s outstretched stick, which deflected the pass, and the Orange received one last possession. Emma Tyrrell attempted to pass to Emily Hawryschuk, who was wide-open near the cage, but the pass misconnected. The trajectory of the pass, though, allowed the ball to end up in the back of the net as the Orange went up 7-5 into half and Emma Tyrrell picked up the assist.

In goal, Hower made several key saves, especially in the fourth quarter. As SU led 14-9, Georgia Latch tried to cut the deficit to four goals, but Hower stopped it, which allowed Bianca Chevarie to secure the ground ball and start the clear. Then, on a Greyhound free-position shot, Jillian Wilson decided to dodge straight to goal, but it was stopped by Hower, who secured the ground ball.

And on the last opportunity for Loyola to tie the game in the final seconds, Latch passed it too high and allowed Queri to catch the ball and run the opposite direction to secure SU’s victory.

Emma Tyrrell continues offensive success

On Saturday against the Owls, Emma Tyrrell had a career day, recording a career-high eight points on five goals and three assists. And against the Greyhounds, she equalized her five goals just a little bit into the second half.

A significant portion of Emma Tyrrell’s goals came on the free position. In the third quarter, after Jalyn Jimerson earned a free-position attempt from the right side of the 8-meter, Jimerson decided to pass the ball across the arc to Emma Tyrrell, who received it and launched a sidearmed shot to the middle right of the net past goalkeeper Kaitlyn Larsson to extend SU’s lead to 9-6.

In the first quarter, Loyola was called for two shooting space violations, which awarded easy opportunities for Emma Tyrrell to capitalize on as she scored SU’s second and third goals to tie the game entering the second period. Defensively, she caused a turnover in the last minute of the second half, which allowed the Orange to score one last time before the break.

Emma Tyrrell left the game for a brief period of time in the third quarter with an apparent wrist injury but ultimately returned to the game. She finished with seven points on four goals and three assists, and Tuesday’s game marked her third game of the season with at least four goals.

Swart, Adamson fill in for Carney’s absence

In warmups, Syracuse attack Megan Carney was dressed in a sweatshirt and sweatpants and did not play in Tuesday’s game, which allowed more opportunities for other attackers besides Emma Tyrrell, Hawryschuk and Meaghan Tyrrell.

In the fourth quarter, Emma Tyrrell had the ball to the right of the goal on the baseline of the 12-meter. Freshman Olivia Adamson cut from the top of the 8-meter to the right and in stride, received a pass from Emma Tyrrell and shot it past Larsson. Then, on SU’s next goal, Hawryschuk ran from the left side of the goal along the baseline and found a trailing Adamson, who dumped it in for the easy goal to give SU a five-goal lead.

Sam Swart also added two goals against the Greyhounds. To go up 12-8 in the third quarter, Meaghan Tyrrell dodged towards the center of the 8-meter but flipped an underhand behind-the-back assist to Swart, who was trailing behind on the right side wide-open, and she converted. Swart also opened up the Orange’s scoring on the day when she stole the ball at midfield on a misconnection on a Greyhound clear and went coast to coast and shot it in the upper right to level the game at one apiece.

Published on March 29, 2022 at 8:47 pm

Contact Cole: colebambini@gmail.com | @ColeBambini