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With less than a minute left in the opening half of Syracuse-UAlbany, the Great Danes had a free-position attempt to try and score their first goal of the afternoon. UAlbany’s Kendra Harbinger, the 23rd-best free-position shooter in the nation, fired at goalie Asa Goldstock, who made the save with ease. 

Before UAlbany could recover defensively, Goldstock charged the midfield line and passed to Megan Carney, who was cutting back in traffic. Carney spun and found Cara Quimby, who found Emma Ward on the left side of the 8-meter. Ward couldn’t catch it cleanly, so she connected with Maddy Baxter, and the Orange led 12-0 at half. 

No. 3 Syracuse’s (9-1, 5-1 Atlantic Coast) turned defensive stops into offense time and again in its 16-6 win over unranked UAlbany (8-5, 5-1 American East) on Tuesday, its final nonconference game of the season. Meaghan Tyrrell and Carney both finished with five goals on the afternoon, contributing to 13 of SU’s 28 points, and Ward added a career-high seven points. Defensively, Syracuse caused 11 turnovers and picked up 18 ground balls against the Great Danes. 

While the Orange have jumped out to a fast start against other nonconference opponents this season, it took them nearly 10 minutes to break the deadlock on Tuesday afternoon. During that time, Syracuse had three turnovers and struggled to connect passes in the middle.

But UAlbany’s offense wasn’t able to connect passes, either, as Kerry Defliese intercepted one and kickstarted SU’s offense in transition. Ward found Tyrrell, who was isolated in the 8-meter arc, and notched the first goal of the afternoon.

After Tyrrell’s goal, the Orange scored 11 more times before halftime. The Orange continuously won the draw and maintained possession on offense. In the first half, Katelyn Mashewske and Ella Simkins controlled the circle, and SU won the draw battle 8-4 during the period.

Defensively, Syracuse dominated in the first half by forcing double teams in its zone and preventing UAlbany from stringing passes together. Despite the zone’s success, the Orange moved to a one-on-one defense midway and continued to find success. They caused eight turnovers during the first frame.

But at the beginning of the second half, Syracuse’s one-to-one defense started to fold. UAlbany was able to penetrate deep into the 8-meter arc and create multiple attempts from point-blank range against SU goalie Hannah Van Middelem, who came in after halftime. In 10 minutes, the Great Danes went on a 5-0 scoring run. 

UAlbany’s was also able to take advantage of Syracuse’s offensive mistakes and score quickly in transition during its run — just like the Orange had done during the first 30 minutes. After UAlbany’s first goal, Van Middelem saved a free-position attempt and Sam Swart cleared the ball to give SU.

But right after crossing the midfield line, Swart had the ball knocked out from her stick. Off Swart’s turnover, the Great Danes only needed two passes to find the back of the net again. UAlbany won nine of the 11 draws during the second 30 minutes.

Syracuse didn’t get an offensive possession in the first 13 minutes of the second half, but after shifting back to its zone defense, the Orange were finally able to revive their offense.

SU started its weave motion offense at the top of the 8-meter arc, and Swart found Tyrrell before screening her defender. The junior attack darted down the middle and finished with her left hand to stop UAlbany’s scoring run and give Syracuse a 13-5 lead. The Great Danes’ offensive success was momentary, as SU closed out the afternoon with three more goals in transition.

Published on April 13, 2021 at 6:10 pm

Contact Anish: asvasude@syr.edu | @anish_vasu