It took 48 seconds for Syracuse to set the tone for what could have and should have been another quick and painless win.

Amy Cross took a pass from Alyssa Murray just outside the crease for an easy first goal. By the 16-minute mark, SU had built a five-goal lead and the offense was running like clockwork.

But then the shots stopped finding the cage. The turnovers mounted. Albany’s offense found its rhythm. And what looked like an easy win soon became one of SU’s toughest battles of the season.

“They had a lot of heart,” SU head coach Gary Gait said. “Albany, I think played very inspired, and really gave us a tough game.

“We just lost a little mental focus.”

Syracuse (11-1, 3-1 Atlantic Coast) found itself in a dogfight with No. 18 Albany (9-1, 1-0 America East), but managed to slip past the Great Danes, 13-11, at the Carrier Dome in front of 532 fans on Tuesday.

SU dominated on shots attempted, 33-15. It dominated on the draw, 22-4. It had four more opportunities on free-position shots. It had every reason to pull away. But Albany forced 16 turnovers on the defensive end, tallied 11 saves and scored on 11 of  its 15 shots to hang tough with the third-ranked Orange.

“We’re a big momentum team, so once we start scoring we challenge each other to keep scoring as well,” said Albany attack Allie Phelan, who scored five goals. “We know they’re a momentum team as well, so we just tried to fight through when it wasn’t as great.”

Syracuse entered halftime leading just 7-5, but started out the second half with three straight goals of its own to seemingly quell any hope that Albany had of pulling off the upset. A Devon Collins charge toward the net put SU up 10-5 just eight minutes in.

But 30 seconds later, Albany secured a turnover and got out in transition as attack Maureen Keggins only had to beat SU defender Kasey Mock. As she ran down the field, the entire Albany contingent stood up, waiting to see if she could convert.

Keggins juked past Mock and put the ball in the back of the net and the Great Dane faithful erupted.

“What we talked about was not letting it really get away from us,” Albany head coach John Battaglino said. “They were so good on the draw, and we just kept scrapping, just trying to build on a goal, then a defensive stand and get back into it. Nobody was afraid to go to the net.”

The shot sparked a 4-0 run for Albany, which cut the lead to 10-9 with under 11 minutes to play.

The score seesawed down the stretch. Syracuse would score, but Albany would come right back, and it wasn’t until Kayla Treanor gave the Orange a 13-11 lead on a free-position shot with 3:08 to play that Syracuse had any semblance of control.

After the Orange controlled the draw, closing it out meant just holding on to the ball.

“I think everyone wants the ball at the end of the game,” Treanor said. “Everyone wants to score at the end of the game. It’s just about being patient and getting the right opportunity and it just opened up and I got an opportunity.”

The tone of Syracuse’s postgame press conference was one more of relief than satisfaction.

The statistics show a game that Syracuse should have won far more easily. The final score shows a game that Albany fought just to stay afloat.

“It’s definitely frustrating,” Murray said. “I think every time we get the opportunity, we want to score, we want to put the ball away. Some of it’s a little bit of bad luck, hitting the pipe a couple times. But it’s just the way the game goes.

“A win’s a win and we were able to pull it out.”

Published on April 1, 2014 at 10:16 pm

Contact Sam: sblum@syr.edu | @SamBlum3