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Head coach Gary Gait has learned plenty about his team from its most recent stretch of games, which featured a statement win over Duke, a slow collapse in a double overtime loss to Cornell and a near disaster versus North Carolina. He knows they need to be resilient. He stressed they can’t make “mental errors.” And, most importantly, he’s learned that Syracuse needs to play a full 60 minutes.

“We’re capable of it, we just have to put it all together,” Gait said.

Saturday’s contest against Virgnia tested that final fact as Billy Dwan tied the game at 17-17 with 104 seconds left in regulation. Mason Kohn lost the faceoff but a wide shot from Anthony Ghobriel resulted in possession for Syracuse. On the other end, Sam English curled into the middle of the field, hammering a low attempt into the back of the net to give SU the final advantage.

“We didn’t play a great 60 minutes the entire time,” Gait said postgame. “We were just happy that we had enough in the tank to make that run at the end.”

No. 6 Syracuse (11-4, 3-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) defeated No. 4 Virginia (10-5, 2-2 ACC) 17-16 for its first win over the Cavaliers with Gait at the helm. The win marks SU’s first plus .500 conference record since 2018 and was the first time UVA lost back to back games since 2017.

“To be able to mount a comeback in the fourth quarter, which we haven’t been able to do lately, it’s exciting for us,” Gait said.

The late issues a week ago allowed UNC to mount a 5-0 run to end the game, turning a comfortable contest into a gutsy 10-9 victory. Gait said they failed to make easy passes by sailing the ball too high, missed easy ground balls and took bad shots. Joey Spallina put it more bluntly, calling Syracuse’s errors “boneheaded.”

“Just mistakes we don’t typically make but under the pressure we made them,” Gait said following the 10-9 win.

Multiple players came up to Gait after the game and apologized about the late slip-ups, ensuring him they wouldn’t happen again. Spallina added that it couldn’t afford to make them against Virgnia, who has averaged 20 goals versus SU over the last two seasons.

To stop a repeat of 2022 and 2023, Gait said the Orange had to stick to their game plan. Their sidelines also looked completely different from the last two games with associate head coach Pat March back after he was ejected in the first quarter of Syracuse’s double overtime loss to Cornell.

The strategy for any team against Virginia starts with their ability against its aggressive ride. For SU, this was an even bigger test following its issues with clearing over the last few weeks. March is in charge of the clear unit and SU had no problem advancing the ball early on.

After UVA took a 2-0 lead, Syracuse needed to get past the ride after John Mullen won the faceoff. Methodically, the Orange strung together a couple of passes and Finn Thomson weaved through the midfield to finish the clear. Ben Wayer tripped while guarding Michael Leo, leaving Christian Mulé wide open on the right side. Mulé fired between Matthew Nunes’ legs to put SU on the board.

Gait said the Cavaliers sometimes threw a pressure ride or disguised a 10-man ride against the Orange. The success for Syracuse came from its preparation, knowing where to position players on the field for Will Mark to feed to.

“Coach March was leading that all week,” Gait said about the clear unit. “With him on the sidelines, players look over and see him and they feel a lot more composed and ready to go.”

After a lefty sidearm rip from Owen Hiltz cut Virginia’s lead to two, Syracuse sparked a clear after Mark saved a shot from McCabe Millon. Mark patiently surveyed his options, locating Wyatt Hottle at the 50-yard line. Hottle kept his stick high and sprinted all the way to the crease, rocketing the ball into the top right corner.

Hottle’s score was the second in a 4-0 run that gave SU its first lead of the afternoon. Nunes didn’t make a single save during that span, recording his first with 6:50 left in the first half.

The Orange went on another 4-0 run to start the second half, finding even more open opportunities within UVA’s defense, which entered the game off its worst performance since an 18-9 loss to Maryland in the 2022 NCAA Quarterfinals. But the Cavaliers refused to go away, scoring twice more by the end of the third and mounting a 7-1 overall run in the second half.

Virginia continuously found opportunities to score in transition, Gait said. With seven minutes left in the third quarter, Wayer kickstarted the transition which led to the first goal of the Cavaliers’ second-half run. He caught the ball near midfield and juked past Luke Rhoa to pass to Payton Cormier. Two quick passes later, the ball was in the back of the net.

The Orange entered the fourth quarter with a 13-12 lead, needing a solid 15 more minutes to defeat the Cavaliers for the first time since 2021. But that didn’t happen initially.

After holding Virginia to just 2-of-8 faceoffs in the third quarter, Syracuse won 2-of-8 to open the fourth. After a dominant three periods against Virginia’s 10-man ride, a failed clear resulted in Will Cory tying the game at 14-14. Dwan was hit with a two-minute penalty for slashing and Ryan Colsey cashed in on the man-up to put Virginia up by three.

In a familiar script to Syracuse’s early losses to Maryland and Army, as well as its most recent loss to Cornell, the Orange started to break down. But this time, SU rebounded, scoring four straight goals to end the game.

Following Cosley’s goal, Mullen won the faceoff. Thomson missed twice but Jake Stevens connected, working alone from the left side before sending a twister shot into the top right corner.

Two minutes later, Thomson set a pick for English on the left wing. Thomson rolled, catching the loft from English and firing underhand into the back of the net. Dwan made up for his turnover with his own score, heaving the ball past Nunes with his back turned to goal.

Then, English delivered the final dagger. And on the Cavaliers final possession, Dwan knocked the ball out of Millon’s stick. There was no breakdown.

“We did everything we needed to this time, when we needed to this time,” Gait said.

Published on April 20, 2024 at 5:04 pm

Contact Anish: asvasude@syr.edu | @anish_vasu