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Syracuse traveled to Gainesville, Florida, to take on No. 13 Florida in the second of a three-game road trip. On Saturday, it defeated No. 14 Virginia 17-11 fueled by a 5-0 run in the second quarter that put the Orange up 10-4. But the success wouldn’t carry over to Gainesville, as Syracuse fell 14-10 as the Gators handed it its second loss of the season.

On Wednesday, a poor Syracuse first quarter put the game out of reach after the first 15 minutes as the Orange trailed 6-1 with the lead increasing to seven goals in the second half. A slow start mixed with careless turnovers wasn’t going to permit any comeback like the one it had against Duke earlier in the season.

Here are some observations from No. 3 Syracuse’s (6-2, 3-0 Atlantic Coast) loss to No. 13 Florida (3-4, 0-0 American Athletic):

Duke game flashbacks

Against Duke, Syracuse looked to be in abysmal form in the first quarter, ultimately trailing 9-2 at the end of the first 15 minutes, though the Orange came back to win 18-16. It was common for the Blue Devils to find Catriona Barry in the same spot — behind the net to the left — where Barry would dish to cutting attackers for easy Blue Devil goals.

And that’s how Florida scored its second goal, but with Emma LoPinto in Barry’s spot, LoPinto held the ball behind the net and waited for Maggi Hall to cut to the middle outside of the cage. The pair connected, and Hall scored the Gators’ second goal of the game.

The Gators continued their opening frame onslaught by adding four more goals as part of a 6-0 run to start the game. To make it 5-0, Emily Heller reset the offense standing 5 meters away from the top of the 12-meter. She dodged one on one against the Syracuse defender before spinning from right to left, swarmed by three SU defenders. But it wasn’t enough to disrupt Heller’s shot as it slipped past goalkeeper Kimber Hower.

In the first quarter alone, five different Gators scored, and UF picked up seven ground balls and caused five turnovers, which created a five-goal deficit entering the second quarter as SU’s Emily Hawryschuk opened the Orange’s scoring with 25 seconds left in the first to avoid a scoreless first quarter.

Turnovers disrupt late run

Early in the second quarter, Hower began a clear attempt and thought she had Jenny Markey open in the middle of the defensive half, but the pass was too strong and high, which allowed the Gators to punish the Orange for the easy giveaway as Hower and the nearby SU defenders were out of position when LoPinto scored to make it 7-1 and tie the largest Gator lead at that point.

In the first quarter, Kate Mashewske secured the draw control, but instead of controlling and advancing the ball, she immediately made an ill-advised pass thinking Meaghan Tyrrell was open. The pass misconnected, and the Gators got an easy ground ball.

Other times, it was simple misconnections on passes that would give the ball away. Olivia Adamson tried to thread a pass to Megan Carney, but it couldn’t be controlled and another time, Carney was passing to Sam Swart on offensive play but missed.

Syracuse began closing the deficit in the fourth quarter, having multiple opportunities to cut a seven-goal deficit to three. Carney tried to dodge past Emma Wightman, but Carney plowed her over and was called for a charge. It was another example of the various ways SU found to turnover the ball 15 times over the whole game.

Two-goalie system returns, unplanned

After Hower made the costly pass early in the second that resulted in the simple LoPinto goal, she only stayed on the field for a couple more minutes. Emma Tyrrell cut the lead to 7-2, and head coach Kayla Treanor made a switch, subbing in Delaney Sweitzer in a likely unplanned switch as Hower conceded seven goals with only one save in just about 19 minutes of play.

It was common in the first five games of the season for Treanor to split time evenly between the two, with Sweitzer playing the first half and Hower the second, but against Duke and Virginia, Hower played all 60 minutes and picked up her first two career starts.

Early in the third quarter, Ashley Gonzalez was awarded a free-position shot. On the opportunity, she dodged right to goal aiming her shot to the lower left of Sweitzer, and she guessed correctly.

With over five minutes left in the third quarter, Sweitzer faced another Gator free-position shot. The shooter this time was LoPinto, and she aimed her shot in the upper right, but Sweitzer saved it again. Sweitzer wasn’t perfect on Wednesday, as she conceded seven goals. Having three saves and a 30% save percentage could possibly force Treanor to reevaluate her true No. 1 goalkeeper, though.

Missing the point-blank opportunities

In the third quarter, Syracuse trailed 12-6 at one point, and Meaghan Tyrrell found herself alone without a defender directly guarding her and only Florida’s goalie Sarah Reznick in the way. Meaghan Tyrrell faked a shot, then aimed in the upper left corner, but Reznick robbed her of the easy goal that would have cut the UF lead to five goals.

In the first quarter, a similar play occurred, as Reznick, who finished with 11 saves in the game, snatched another Meaghan Tyrrell shot in front of goal. Had SU converted these opportunities, the lead wouldn’t have swelled like it did and the deficit would have been more manageable for Syracuse. The Orange cut the once seven-goal lead to four in the fourth quarter, but it was too late for them to resurrect the game.

Published on March 16, 2022 at 8:51 pm

Contact Cole: colebambini@gmail.com | @ColeBambini