Syracuse suffers 1st ever 10-loss season in 18-11 defeat against No. 6 Notre Dame

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In what was possibly Syracuse’s best scoring opportunity of the season, Owen Seebold received the ball all alone at the top of the crease.

Seebold wound up for an overhand shot for the chance to stuff in Syracuse’s sixth goal of the game late in the second quarter. Instead, the shot went right at goalie Liam Entenmann, who made the save with his stick crossed in front of his body, and ricocheted the ball out of bounds.

The goal would’ve pulled Syracuse within three scores heading into halftime, but instead, the Orange trailed by five and never got within three goals of Notre Dame again.

Seebold’s miss was reminiscent of Syracuse’s (4-10, 1-5, Atlantic Coast) missed chances and victories throughout its first 10-loss season in its 106-year program history. The Orange fell 18-11 to No. 6 Notre Dame (6-4, 5-1 ACC) in its season finale, capping off their longest losing streak — six games — since 1975.

Syracuse’s 28.6% win percentage is its fifth-worst ever, ranking just above its 27.3% seasons in 1930 and 1975. The Orange’s losing streak began on April 2 in South Bend, Indiana as Notre Dame handed SU a 22-6 defeat for its worst loss since 1977.

On Sunday, Syracuse controlled possession for most of the first seven minutes, but the score remained tied at one apiece. Despite the Orange outshooting the Fighting Irish 12-6 — six of the 12 going on net — Entenmann made five saves to avoid the early deficit.

Just before Notre Dame regained its 2-1 lead, Syracuse went on the man-up and had three scoring chances, but just one of them resulted in a shot on goal. Tucker Dordevic’s shot went right at Entenmann, and on the Fighting Irish’s clear attempt, Marco Napolitano bobbled his ground ball pickup allowing Seebold to take over. Seebold lobbed a pass to the center of the zone for Brendan Curry, whose shot went wide on a semi-open net, as Entenmann left his cage to challenge the loose ball.

After Matt Magnan took another shot that went wide, the man-up expired and Notre Dame managed a successful clear. Chris Kavanagh took the ball into the Orange’s zone and spotted an unmarked David Lipka next to the right post, who cut inside and stuffed in a close-range shot past Harrison Thompson.

Though Notre Dame couldn’t establish a three-goal lead until the final minute of the opening period, its attack, led by Pat and Chris Kavangh, relied on finding runners cutting between Syracuse’s defense to create quality close-range opportunities. It’s what led to the Fighting Irish’s eight minute, 6-1 run through the first and second quarters.

Pat recorded four points during that run, including three assists. He assisted Notre Dame’s third and fourth goals of the game, which were both passes from behind the net to a cutting Wheaton Jackoboice and Will Angrick, respectively.

Then, as Notre Dame took its biggest lead of the first half at 8-2, Pat found Chris cutting between three Orange defenseman, and Chris got a step on Brett Kennedy to fire a low shot past Thompson as he fell down in his follow-through.

But the Orange pulled the game within four as they scored three times in a two-minute span. The difference-maker, though, turned out to be Entenmann, who finished the game with 22 saves, a career-high. He led a ND defense that entered the game as one of just 10 teams allowing fewer than 10 goals per game as its scoring defense ranked eighth in the nation. Entenmann’s 57.1% save percentage ranks sixth in the nation.

Thompson started his first game since March 13 on Sunday. He had replaced Bobby Gavin after just seven minutes last Saturday against Virginia after Gavin allowed five goals on six shots.

In Sunday’s loss, Thompson played his first complete game since that Johns Hopkins loss and recorded a season-high 10 saves. He was tested early on with an over-the-shoulder, behind-the-back shot as well as a low, between-the-legs bouncer for his first two shots of the game, and went 3-for-6 throughout the early portion of the first quarter.

Thompson was a key factor in Syracuse’s transition game, as it successfully cleared on 17-of-18 opportunities. On one play after a quick save, Thompson sent the ball to midfield to Saam Olexo, who got the ball to Seebold. Seebold then found Jackson Birtwistle, who then rifled in his second goal of the game midway through the third quarter.

But as Notre Dame continued to create close-range chances and Syracuse’s defenseman were caught late on slides, Thompson struggled, and the Orange allowed at least 20 goals for the third time this season, finishing the historically-bad season with another subpar defensive performance.

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