When Chiara Gutsche tapped the ball and passed it back to Laura Graziosi to start the game, UNC jumped into its smothering defensive press. Graziosi received the ball, and with three Tar Heel players charging toward her, lofted it to no one.

North Carolina took over possession and sprinted down the field, just as it did for the majority of the first half.

“We just have to keep working on our timing and playing the ball earlier and our front third is the final frontier,” head coach Ange Bradley said. 

That No. 14 Syracuse (8-4, 1-2 Atlantic Coast) offense struggled for most of the game, only totaling five shots and one goal. No. 1 UNC (11-0, 4-0), who had only allowed two goals since Sept. 6, dominated in the midfield, not allowing Syracuse to make the final pass. When the Orange did have opportunities, SU couldn’t evade the foot or stick of Tar Heels’ goalkeeper Amanda Hendry.

Other than Charlotte de Vries’ solo goal late in the fourth quarter, the Orange offense failed to ever come alive in a 3-1 loss.

“For us, we just gotta get faster in moving the ball in the front third and being able to get the connection working with each other a little bit better, and that’ll keep coming.” Bradley said.

The Orange knew entering Saturday how staunch the UNC defense was, the same defense that shutout No. 4 Duke and No. 9 UVA. A defense that walked onto J.S. Coyne Stadium having only allowed eight goals on the season — North Carolina shut out its opponents in half of its games.

Even still, Syracuse managed to work its way down the field against the Tar Heels multiple times, often using junior Carolin Hoffmann, Graziosi and junior Claire Cooke to move toward the edge of the shooting circle.

Yet, at almost every point in the first half, the Orange couldn’t push any further, as de Vries couldn’t work her usual magic to penetrate the defense. The Tar Heel backs and midfielders were there every time to force SU to retreat back into its own half.

“We take a lot of papers in our office, we spin ‘em all around, and we throw them on the floor. Whatever comes up, we come up with,” Bradley said about the Orange’s preparation. “It’s an amazing puzzle.”

The efficiency of the attack was about the only difference between the two teams. UNC converted twice with excellent rapid-fire passing in similar situations where SU faltered. UNC’s star Erin Matson – who leads the country in points – demanded the ball on a penalty corner and wove between the defense before slipping the ball past SU goalie Sarah Sinck.

de Vries, on the other hand, had only one shot in the first half.  The SU midfielders and forwards couldn’t find her when she lingered between defenders at the edge of the shooting circle. The leading scorer and impetus for much of the Syracuse offense was barely involved in the first 30 minutes.

“I think you can see that we play with them really well and if you look at the stats, we outshot them during the second half,” Hoffmann said. “And I mean doing that is something can really look forward with.”

When the Syracuse midfielders played better in the second half, dispossessing UNC in that final third and entering the shooting circle, the Tar Heel backs still came up on top. They blocked pass after pass, and poke-checked away Sarah Luby and Hoffmann’s forward dribbles.

Outside of de Vries’ magical fourth-quarter goal, where she evaded three defenders and backhanded a shot into the lower right corner, SU showed that it didn’t have enough offensive firepower to compete with the nation’s best.

To fix that, SU can play at a faster pace, pass the ball and then immediately move to a new spot, Bradley said. The Orange can try to play more long balls, hoping that Luby and de Vries are fast enough to track down the ball and create a scoring opportunity.

But for the most part, Bradley will listen to any solution.

“I’ll put it on a piece of paper and throw it around,” she said. 

Published on October 12, 2019 at 5:33 pm

Contact Adam: adhillma@syr.edu | @_adamhillman