Things are spiraling for ‘Cuse at the moment.
In the aftermath of the news that star Olivia Adamson is out for the season with a lower body injury and on the heels of back-to-back losses in the last week, the Syracuse Orange came out looking for something positive on Saturday at home against the Clemson Tigers.
They’re still looking, as the Orange lost their third consecutive game for the first time in seven years with their 9-8 loss to the No. 12 ranked Tigers, who they lost to for the first time.
Final from the Dome. pic.twitter.com/2SsTZJbLsH
— Syracuse Women’s Lacrosse (@CuseWLAX) March 1, 2025
The game was a complete slop-fest on both sides, with the teams combining for more turnovers (35) than shots on goal (30) and just 17 goals.
‘Cuse was especially brutal, finishing the game with 16 turnovers while only mustering 17 total shots and only 14 on goal. More turnovers than looks on cage is how you score just eight goals for the third straight game.
The Orange got destroyed on draw controls in this game (17-4), but that was only the tip of the iceberg. Thanks to a very strong overall defensive performance from ‘Cuse, causing nine turnovers and leading to 19 total by the Tigers, they were able to mitigate the effect of getting crushed on draws.
The defense gave the offense a chance to stay in and even win the game, but the sloppiness with the ball was the straw that broke the camels back and sent SU to their worst losing streak in the better part of a decade.
Clemson deserves credit for the way they played defense, utilizing a zone in which the player closest to the ball at any given moment would aggressively press out on whoever had possession. That aggressiveness led to a lot of dodging in a defensive manner by ‘Cuse, who would need to escape that initial pressure to re-engage any sense of attack on offense.
It made penetration of the zone difficult, and while Clemson deserves credit for that, the bottom line is that SU was never able to consistently move the ball quickly and crisply the way you need to do in order to beat an aggressive zone.
They did show good ball movement at times, which usually either led to a goal or a free position chance. But efficient ball movement was extremely inconsistent from the Orange, and it led to a lot of forced passes and rushed decisions.
The turnovers were the real back-breakers in this game. No matter how many times the ‘Cuse defense forced a Clemson turnover to keep the game close and give themselves another chance, the Orange’s turnovers kept piling up and, on top of the draw control deficiency, was just too much to overcome in what ended up being a close loss.
The way this game played out is especially brutal less than 24 hours after the news that Olivia Adamson will miss the rest of the season. To see the offense struggle so much in need of another calming presence, and especially an interior presence who can catch tough passes and finish with efficiency, was just tough. The same goes for seeing Meghan Rode, Molly Guzik and Joely Caramelli struggle so much on draws. Alas, the Orange will need to find another plan with Adamson out.
Caroline Trinkaus (3G) and Emma Ward (2G, 1A) led the scoring with three points each, while Alexa Vogelman (1G, 1A) chipped in two. Daniella Guyette had seven saves.
The defense had a really strong game overall, playing a woman-to-woman with a Superia Clark face-guard for the second game in a row. This group is clearly much better suited to using their athleticism to play straight up against teams, and they did it nicely today with nine caused turnovers and 19 overall for Clemson. Coco Vandiver led the way with four CTs herself.
But perhaps the final gut punch of the afternoon came in the fourth quarter. Even after all the offensive struggles, which included a 23-minute scoring drought in the first half, the Orange were still in the game thanks to the defense’s efforts.
Twice in the fourth quarter, the Orange were able to tie the game up at 6-6 and 7-7 after trailing virtually the entire game. But both times, ‘Cuse lost the ensuing draw and the defense gave up a goal immediately on the first possession following their own goal. They played a great game most of the afternoon, but they had a couple breakdowns in the fourth when they most needed to get stops to give themselves a chance to re-take the lead.
The inability to put everything together to win a game is the sign of a team that’s struggling. The defense was holding the whole operation together with duct tape all day, but once the offense actually gets a couple goals back to make it a tie game, the defense gives up quick answers to put them right back in a deficit.
It can be demoralizing, especially for a young team that’s just trying to find themselves and get back in the win column. It wasn’t to be today, though, as the Orange dropped their third game in eight days to fall to 3-3 and 0-2 in the ACC on the season.
They’ll be back in action next Friday, March 7 at home against the Stanford Cardinal at 5 PM on the ACC Network.