They walked around the field near their sideline slowly and solemnly. Heads down, hands on hips, sticks slamming into the turf, Syracuse’s players appeared pained and dejected. The loss carried a heavy burden, tossing the Orange’s future into doubt and casting a cloud over its final week of the regular season.

Syracuse wore the look of a solidly defeated team after a sloppy performance in its 10-8 loss to Georgetown. Toward the end of the day, Syracuse looked fatigued and out of energy.

‘I don’t know if it’s the number of games we had in a short period of time, if that came into play,’ SU head coach John Desko said. ‘I don’t know. It’s definitely not the time of year when you want to see the number of turnovers that we had in the game, especially when it’s so important for us today.’

A rushed offensive effort led to 22 turnovers. The No. 14 Orange (7-6, 3-2 Big East) couldn’t take care of the ball, and throughout the two-goal loss, SU’s offense simply looked off. It couldn’t create opportunities, failed to find the holes in Georgetown’s zone defense and when the final buzzer signaled the end of the defeat to the Hoyas (6-6, 2-3 Big East) in the Carrier Dome on Saturday, more questions pertaining to Syracuse’s postseason hopes were raised than answers.

Despite the loss, Syracuse will be the No. 3 seed in the Big East tournament. The Orange will take on No. 2 seed Villanova in the semifinals in Villanova, Pa., May 3.

The 22 turnovers were the most SU committed since its second game of the season Feb. 26, when it had 25 in a 10-9 win over Army.

SU’s second turnover came less than four minutes into the game when Hoyas attack Travis Comeau disrupted a Syracuse clear attempt and scooped up the ground ball as Brian Megill lost it. Comeau took the ball up field and scored to tie the game 1-1.

Late in the second quarter, the officials called Syracuse for stalling, and midfielder Henry Schoonmaker stepped out of the box to give GU possession, removing SU’s chances of building on its 3-2 halftime lead.

When Georgetown switched into a zone defense, it only grew worse. Aside from the turnovers, the Orange often rushed shots without solid placement.

‘We played a lot more zone defense than we have all year, and that wasn’t a bad thing for us to do,’ Georgetown head coach Dave Urick said. ‘It made them work a little bit harder to get the shot that they wanted and take a little bit more time off the clock.’

The Hoyas were not efficient with the ball either, finishing the game with 23 turnovers.

But as the game progressed, especially late in the third quarter into the fourth – when Georgetown scored four unanswered goals – the Hoyas limited their mistakes.

Desko could not pinpoint the reason for his team’s lack of control. The Orange looked fatigued. And Georgetown’s zone defense was also especially effective.

For a Syracuse team that averaged 16 goals in its last two contests, this wasn’t one to be proud of.

‘I don’t know,’ Desko said. ‘It’s definitely not the time of year when you want to see the number of turnovers that we had in the game, especially when it’s so important for us today.’

The Orange only had three turnovers in the fourth quarter, but it hardly ever had the ball. Syracuse won 1-of-8 faceoffs in the final period.

Despite that, SU capitalized on its limited opportunities to match Georgetown with four goals. It was the 19 turnovers in the first three quarters that spelled disaster for the Orange.

Syracuse has one week to prepare for Notre Dame in what might be the most important game of the season. The Fighting Irish boasts one of the best defenses in the nation. Excess turnovers by SU will likely strip its chances of a win.

There’s a cloud of uncertainty hovering over Syracuse and its chances to reach the NCAA tournament, and the Orange has one week to clear it away.

‘It’s kind of solemn, it seems like,’ goaltender Bobby Wardwell said. ‘I think we’re going to come out ready to work tomorrow, fight all week and look to get the win against Notre Dame next weekend.’

cjiseman@syr.edu

Published on April 21, 2012 at 12:00 pm

Contact Chris: cjiseman@syr.edu | @chris_iseman