Syracuse women’s lacrosse: Orange drop hard-fought game to Northwestern, 12-8

‘Cuse fell to 3-2 after their second top-3 loss in a row.

The Syracuse Orange’s brutal stretch to end February came to a close on Tuesday evening in the JMA Dome, where the Orange returned home and dropped a hard-fought decision to the No. 3 Northwestern Wildcats, 12-8.

For the second time in four days, ‘Cuse got off to a bad start against a top-three ranked team and never led despite being competitive the rest of the way. While they never got all that close against UNC, they were able to make a game of it versus the Wildcats.

It was a game of runs the whole way though, with Northwestern controlling the game early and holding ‘Cuse scoreless until the mid-second quarter on their way to a 5-0 lead. When the Orange finally got on the board more than 22 minutes into the game, the momentum swung in their direction as they went on a 4-0 run over roughly the next quarter of play.

SU brought it down to a one-goal game at 5-4 with 8:44 left in the third, which is when they started committing some sloppy penalties that ignited a 4-1 Northwestern run that put them up 9-5 to end the third. All four of those NW goals came off free-positions, three of which were in the aftermath of a Syracuse card.

In the fourth quarter, the Orange had one final push in them, going on a 3-1 run to make it 10-8 with just under four minutes remaining in the game. After a handful of empty possessions by both teams, ‘Cuse had the ball back with just under two minutes and looking to clear.

Just as Alexa Vogelman was getting the ball into the offensive zone, she was stripped on a very nice check, ending the Orange’s last attempt at a comeback right in its tracks. The Wildcats would tack on two open-net goals to end the game at 12-8.

This was an interesting contest on the defensive side from both teams. The Orange offense had a nightmarish time with the Northwestern zone, especially in the early going. The Wildcats were very aggressive with the way they approached ball carriers, flustering with double teams, quick collapses and constant stick movement. On the rare occasion a ‘Cuse dodger did manage to penetrate the zone, a NW defender was there with a stick check from behind to jar the ball loose.

They were so suffocating that it was a few minutes into the second quarter before SU even got a single shot on goal. They eventually pulled themselves together to score on the woman-up, a couple free positions, in transition, and at times with improved passing and dodging efficiency in 7-on-7, but overall this was a tough day against a veteran, aggressive defense.

Unsurprisingly, it was SU’s own veteran, Emma Ward (3G, 3A), who was the only one finding consistent production with six points on the day. Olivia Adamson’s presence was badly missed in this one as an effective catch-and-shoot threat from the interior of the defense.

Emma Muchnick (2G) had a pair of goals, while Joely Caramelli (1G) and Caroline Trinkaus (1G) added one each. Freshman Annie Parker (1G) scored the first goal of her career in the fourth quarter as the Orange were mounting their final comeback attempt.

For the ‘Cuse defense, they strayed from their usual plan and played the bulk of the game in woman-to-woman with a face-guard on NW star Madison Taylor by Superia Clark. It worked wonders in the first half as Clark held Taylor to one assist.

But Taylor proved you just can’t keep a great player down when she exploded for five goals in the second half. To be fair to Clark, not a single one of those goals was at her expense. The first three were all on free positions, two of which came during a woman-up situation in which SU was back in zone, and the final two were the two empty net goals at the end of the game. So, Taylor didn’t score a single goal all evening when Clark was actually guarding her; a very impressive performance by Superia.

I think it’s fair to say the defensive game plan worked very nicely as SU held the Wildcats to 10 goals plus two freebies at the end. When Northwestern finishes a game with 12 tallies on the board, you’ve done your job as a defense.

Major credit for that job goes to Daniella Guyette in goal. Guyette was once again outstanding between the pipes, as she came away with 14 saves and only 10 goals-against for a .583 save percentage. In Delaney Sweitzer’s return to the Dome, her former backup out-dueled her with twice as many saves and a significantly better save percentage.

Guyette has been incredible in the last four games to say the least, making 55 saves (13.75 per game) with a 54 percent save rate, and that’s against the likes of Maryland, UNC and Northwestern.

The draw controls in this game largely mirrored the game of runs on the scoreboard. Northwestern, the statistical best draw team in the country, started the game winning four of the first five draws to help fuel their 5-0 run. But SU’s 4-0 run coincided with their only successful spurt on draws, when they won five straight in the middle of the game.

The Orange won the first draw of the second half, which would be the last one they won all day. NW would take the final 13 draws of the game, which initially matched up with their 4-1 run that gave them a 9-5 lead and made any ‘Cuse comeback attempt a lot more difficult as they followed every goal on defense. Olivia Adamson was also missed badly here as another option in the middle of that 13-0 draw run.

While SU clearly needs to start getting off to better starts in these games so that playing from behind doesn’t become a habit, it has been encouraging to see the way they’ve fought back and played the final two-thirds of the last two games. UNC and NW are two of the most talented teams in the country, and after bad starts, they’ve played them evenly the rest of the way. They made this game close and in-doubt until the final couple minutes.

They’re young and inexperienced, but they just gained a lot of that in the last four days and will hopefully be ready to utilize that starting this weekend when they host the No. 12 ranked Clemson Tigers on Saturday, March 1 at 12 PM on ACC Network Extra.