Strong defensive 3rd quarter leads No. 5 Syracuse past No. 7 Loyola

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In Syracuse’s last game, Kate Mashewske recorded a season-high 18 draw controls, leading it to a 21-12 win in the draw circle. The advantage led SU to a 15-14 win over then-No. 9 Virginia.

Wednesday, the Orange struggled early in the draw circle against Loyola, a team that entered ranked second nationally in draw control percentage (0.662). The Greyhounds won seven straight draws in the first half, a run that caused Mashewske to be replaced by Olivia Adamson in the circle before Mashewske returned.

While SU struggled to find its rhythm in the circle, its defense kept it in the contest. The Orange’s defense made it difficult for the Greyhounds to find consistency on offense, as Loyola committed nine turnovers in the first half. After a close first half, No. 5 Syracuse (8-3, 5-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) held No. 7 Loyola (9-1, 4-0 Patriot League) scoreless for 15 minutes in the second half throughout a 6-0 run, leading to the 16-13 victory — its fifth straight win.

Syracuse won the first draw control, which led to a goal by Savannah Sweitzer and an early 1-0 lead. Following the goal, Chase Boyle, Loyola’s draw control specialist, won the next two draws and scored back-to-back goals to take a 2-1 lead at the 10:07 mark of the first quarter. Boyle won the next draw, her third straight, but then the SU defense settled into its zone.

At the 8:27 mark, Regan Kielmeyer got pressured by the SU defense and turned the ball over. SU took over possession but held the ball for just 34 seconds before Emma Tyrrell turned it over. The Orange’s defense was on its heels as Adamson was called for a green card, but SU goalie Delaney Sweitzer stood tall to make her first save of the game at the 4:46 mark.

The Orange tied the game on a goal by Maddy Baxter at the 1:28 mark of the first quarter. Loyola won the ensuing draw, setting up its offense to take a lead before the quarter’s end. But Kaci Benoit caused a turnover on Georgia Latch with 17 seconds left to keep the game at 2-2.

To start the second quarter, the Greyhounds won their fifth straight draw control. As Loyola set up its offense, SU slid to fill every potential opening, which caused a shot clock violation. Instead of gaining possession from the draw circle, SU relied on its defense for production. The Orange took the ball into the Loyola zone, and Emma Ward finished to give SU a 3-2 lead.
SU head coach Kayla Treanor elected to have Adamson take the next draw but Loyola made it 3-3 just 21 seconds after winning possession. The Greyhounds won their seventh straight draw, but Coco Vandiver pressured Boyle into a turnover. Syracuse took a 4-3 lead and Mashewske returned to the circle, working the ball to Katie Goodale to end Loyola’s draw control streak at seven.

“On the draw circle, we really focused on getting a box out on the wing players,” Goodale said. “(I talked to) Kate, and she was like, ‘if they hit it out, just go for the ball.’ So we just really tried to be the more athletic team and go for the ball when it was on the ground.”

After ending the run in the circle, Syracuse embarked on a 3-0 scoring run in the middle of the second quarter propelled by forced turnovers by Adamson and Goodale. In the second quarter, Goodale won two draw controls and forced two turnovers, leading SU to an 8-7 halftime advantage.

Loyola was first to score in the third quarter, but after tying the game at 8-8 at the 11:53 mark, the Syracuse defense became impenetrable.

Off of momentum from the second quarter, Mashewske started to succeed more in the circle and SU responded just 21 seconds later, taking the lead back.

At the 10:56 mark of the third quarter, Boyle turned the ball over while trying to clear and Tyrrell punished the Greyhounds with her second-straight goal. Midway through the quarter, Hallie Simkins was first to a ground ball off a Loyola turnover and Ward and Tyrrell added a quick two goals to take a 12-8 lead.

Following a foul on Goodale, Loyola got possession with four minutes left in the quarter. As Loyola looked to fire its first shot since the 11-minute mark, Vandiver caused her second turnover of the game. SU gained a free position shot in the final minute of the third quarter and Savannah converted to give SU a 13-8 lead heading into the final 15 minutes.

“(The third quarter) is basically where the game is at,” Loyola head coach Jen Adams said. “It’s coming off of a half, we should have been fresh and ready to go, but I think that third quarter was really the nail in our coffin.”

Just 26 seconds into the fourth quarter, Tyrrell scored her sixth goal of the day to cap off SU’s 6-0 scoring run. The spree of goals lifted SU to a 14-8 lead. After a 15-minute scoreless streak, the Greyhounds scored at the 11:13 mark of the fourth quarter. With a four-goal lead, Syracuse used its quickness as Vandiver scooped up a loose ball and got the ball to the offense, which found Ward for her fourth goal of the day.

In the final five minutes, as Loyola looked for a late comeback, the Syracuse defense closed the door. Bianca Chevarie, who had not recorded a forced turnover in the first three quarters, pressured the Greyhounds into coughing up the ball twice, including one with 29 seconds left to close out the victory.

“We want to create a lot of caused turnovers (and) we want to give more possessions to our offense,” Treanor said. “That is kind of our DNA and the way that we want to play. We want to be really tough to play against.”