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During Syracuse’s nine-game winning streak that was snapped against Boston College, SU’s offense was firing on all cylinders. The Orange scored 15 or more goals in all nine games, outscoring their opponents by 79. During the streak, Emma Tyrrell emerged as SU’s top scorer and Kate Mashewske was stringing together her strongest performances in the draw circle.

Then, in its matchup against BC, Syracuse’s offense failed to show up when it mattered most. In the fourth quarter after an early goal by Olivia Adamson, the only SU player to score was Savannah Sweitzer, who entered the game ranked seventh on the team in goals. Due to its late shortcomings, SU fell 11-10 in overtime as its win streak ended.

Despite the loss, Syracuse turned its attention to the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament for its quarterfinals matchup against Louisville. SU scored a season-high 22 goals against the Cardinals in the regular season and had eight different goal scorers. In the quarterfinal Wednesday, the Orange clicked again, recording a season-high eight first-quarter goals while nine different players tallied goals.

Here are some observations from No. 1 seed Syracuse’s (13-4, 9-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) 17-8 win over No. 9 seed Louisville (8-11, 3-8 ACC) in the ACC quarterfinals:

Syracuse gets off to fast start

Against Boston College, Syracuse scored five goals in the first half as the offense went dry for the final eight minutes of the half. Against Louisville, the Orange recorded their fifth goal with 3:20 left in the first quarter. The offense started when Mashewske won the opening draw and Emma Muchnick found the back of the net just 32 seconds later.

With the Cardinals leading 3-2 midway through the first quarter, SU found the rhythm on offense it had during its nine-game winning streak when it routinely got out to first-quarter leads. Payton Rowley netted a goal at the 7:05 mark to tie the game. Emma Ward scored a minute later and then the floodgates opened for a 6-0 Syracuse scoring run to close the quarter.

Savannah, who scored two go-ahead goals in the fourth quarter against BC, scored twice during the run. Tyrrell scored one of her own before feeding freshman Joely Caramelli to give SU an 8-3 lead to close the first quarter. Syracuse’s eight first-quarter goals were its most since it scored eight in the first quarter on Feb. 14 against then-No. 18 Army.

Free-position shots

At the 10:43 mark of the first quarter, a foul on Katie Goodale set up Louisville for its first free-position chance. Kokoro Nakazawa, the Cardinals’ leading scorer, took the shot from the 8-meter but SU goalie Delaney Sweitzer toed the goal line and stood tall to deny the shot.

Syracuse’s offense started to click, getting out to a 5-0 run toward the end of the first quarter, leaving little opportunities for the Cardinals to score. Maggie McMahon was granted a free-position chance to try to break SU’s scoring run, but her shot hit the post, marking Louisville’s third missed free-position opportunity.

Nearing the nine-minute mark of the second quarter, Syracuse committed two fouls inside the 8-meter, granting Louisville two free-position chances. Again, Delaney’s presence in the net led to the Cardinals missing the cage both times.

In the third quarter, with Syracuse leading 12-6, Nakazawa was denied again as Delaney used her stick to block the shot. Through six chances at a free-position shot, Syracuse denied Louisville on each opportunity. The Cardinals got their seventh chance at the 11:58 mark, but multiple SU defenders stick-checked Negai Nakazawa leading to a turnover.

4th-quarter defensive stronghold

With the Cardinals looking to carve into SU’s 15-7 lead entering the fourth quarter, their offense started to play more aggressively. Two minutes into the quarter, Allegra Catalano got a chance to get a shot off but missed wide, continuing Louisville’s scoring drought since the 7:56 mark of the third.

At the 10:04 mark, Izzy Seikel fired on net at Delaney, but the shot was covered up. The Louisville offense stayed on the attack and worked the ball to Abby Scully. Scully came darting toward the SU goal and fired a shot from point-blank range, but Delaney denied the shot, catching the ball in front of her face.

The Cardinals continued pressure inside the SU defensive zone, but the Orange kept them at a distance. Goodale took the ball away from Lauren Figas at the 5:03 mark and then when the Cardinals came back down the field a minute later, Coco Vandiver forced a turnover. The takeaway led to a goal by Tyrrell on the other end.

With 2:29 left in the fourth quarter, Catalano ended Louisville’s near 20-minute scoring drought. The score cut the SU lead to 17-8 but strong defense by Syracuse kept Louisville at too far a distance for most of the second half.

Published on April 24, 2024 at 1:56 pm

Contact Timmy at: tswilcox@syr.edu | @TimmyWilcox32