What was unfolding on the field was the type of collapse that Syracuse hadn’t experienced in its previous 19 games this season.

Turnover after turnover, 16 to be exact, turned a comfortable five-goal Syracuse lead over then-No. 11 Loyola, into a three-goal deficit.

In the end, a miraculous last-minute comeback win masked a ghastly season-high 24 turnovers for SU in its regular season finale on May 3.

And all SU head coach Gary Gait could do was laugh, uncomfortably, when asked what his team was doing to combat a similar problem in the upcoming NCAA tournament.

It was a reminder of a statistic that he’d like to forget.

“We moved past that when it ended,” Gait said. “We know it’s a different season now, we start fresh. One game playoff, and I think the mental focus will be sharper.”

Syracuse’s turnover-heavy performance against Loyola was a hyperbolic example of a lingering problem for the No. 2 Orange (18-2, 6-1 Atlantic Coast). It has 288 turnovers on the season, which are the most in the ACC, and 68 more than top-ranked Maryland. This week, the Orange is working on its communication to try and mitigate the problem.

In games that Syracuse nearly lost this season, like its 13-11 win over then-No. 18 Albany on April 1, or 7-5 win over then-.500 Cornell on April 15, it was massive turnover totals — 16 and 17, respectively — that nearly doomed SU.

Now the Orange will hope for a reversal of fortune when it hosts Stony Brook in the second round of the NCAA tournament at SU Soccer Stadium on Sunday at 3 p.m.

“We can’t do that in a win-or-go-home scenario. Because if a ball bounced the other way,” midfielder Bridget Daley said. “… then we would have lost in the tournament and that sends you home.“

Daley had four turnovers against Loyola, and said they could have been due to everyone not practicing together during finals week leadinmg up to the game.

Now that everyone is back and focused only on lacrosse, Daley thinks those problems will stay in the past.

“A lot of people are putting in time together and doing small group work,” Daley said. “On defense you talk about communication. But it’s all over the place. It’s in the midfield, it’s on attack. You’ve got to back each other up.”

Communication will be key against Stony Brook, which leads the nation in scoring defense, allowing just 4.79 goals per game. The next-best defense allows more than six per game.

The Seawolves held Towson scoreless in the first half of the first-round play-in game Friday. Stony Brook eventually won 10-8 to advance to play Syracuse.

“We want to make (Syracuse) impatient,” SBU head coach Joe Spanilla said. “We can’t give up transition to them. We’ve got to make sure we get back with the ball and get our defense organized.

“We’ve got to make sure we have no self-inflicted wounds, and we make stops.”

Syracuse has been practicing all week to face either SBU or Towson at SU Soccer Stadium. Either way it will be playing on a grass surface for the first time after splaying all of its home games at the Carrier Dome this season.

Daley said the new surface doesn’t change the team’s game plan, but that it needs to be conscious of the change to limit its turnover totals.

“There’s more of a focus on ground balls,” Daley said, “and just backing each other up, because when you do miss those passes and the person behind you isn’t ready for it, it’s not just the person that bobbled the ball.

“It’s a team effort.“

Syracuse’s turnover problem is one it would like to overlook.

With an 18-2 record, the best in program history, it certainly is possible to do so.

But while Gait may say he’s willing to “move past” one of his team’s greatest flaws, he’s done everything he can this week to prepare Syracuse for a shot at a title run.

“You’ll see less turnovers,” Gait promised. “We’ll be ready to go come Sunday.”

Published on May 9, 2014 at 8:18 pm

Contact Sam: sblum@syr.edu | @SamBlum3