SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Last week, standing in the postgame scrum off the third-straight comeback, Syracuse head coach John Desko had a moment of reflection. The Orange had just upset the then-No. 2 squad in the country and secured a statement win on a national stage. They reaffirmed that late runs are embedded in the program’s DNA. The concept of “Cardiac ‘Cuse” is as humorous as it is true.

Yet, Desko knew his team needed to stop tumbling into early-deficits. There’d be a time when SU wouldn’t escape with an unlikely win. The deficit too large. That was Saturday.

Donning the road blues for the first this season, No. 8 Syracuse’s (5-3, 1-2 Atlantic Coast) march to the top of the ACC was halted. It lost, 13-10, to No. 12 Notre Dame (5-3, 1-1) in Arlotta Stadium. The Fighting Irish bombarded the Orange early, scoring 11 goals and executing where SU initially faltered — it committed a season-high 23 turnovers. Still, Syracuse almost came back. Its defense held UND scoreless for 25 in-game minutes. The offense followed. Senior attack Bradley Voigt identified the “special feeling” that the game-changing 7-0 SU run triggered. But a Brett Kennedy hit on Brendan Gleason gave UND the break it needed. A fourth-straight comeback was for nought.

Two teams seemingly headed in two different directions pivoted. UND — which entered the game wasting five-goal leads in back-to-back weeks — took the advantage. And SU, intead, regressed.

“All around,” Voigt said, “we need to start better. We’ve proven we can comeback from a crazy deficit. but today was a little too much.”

At the contest’s start, the hosts dominated. UND’s Bryan Costabile established space to goalie Drake Porter’s left and went low for the first score. It was one of three first-half goals for Costabile. With SU’s top-defender Nick Mellen glued to Gleason, Costabile had one-on-one battles to win. And he did.

Repeatedly, SU managed to tip a pass and win possession in its defensive zone. But Notre Dame hounded ball-handlers and kept the ball in UND’s offensive end. In its three-game winning streak, SU had turnover totals of 15, nine and 16. Eight minutes into the first quarter, it totaled five.  

“We’ve gotten off to these slow starts in the first quarter and it holds us up,” Voigt said. “… Possessions early on in the game are crucial for us.”

The lack of a true-No. 1 scorer wasn’t the only thing to hinder the Orange. Season-long issues on clears reemerged, the defense’s physicality cost it and the turnovers racked up while UND kept firing. When Gleason made it 11-2 Notre Dame before halftime, the ball rattled in the net and off Porter’s Gatorade bottle. An SU coach on the sideline made a note, and Desko stared forward.

After one score, Tyson Bomberry hit Connor Morin high and drew a two-minute non-releasable penalty.

On the man-down, SU’s defense tightened. At first. It forced perimeter passes and stuck to white jerseys when they darted toward the crease. The ball rattled on the ground after Porter fell to his knees to make a save. Porter tried a clear over the top of Gleason but the attack lept and picked it off before finishing. Porter punched his glove, and Desko held his hands out and looked toward the goal.

Desko stared again minutes later when Wheaton Jackoboice dove head-first in front of UND’s crease after ripping one through twine. For the third week in a row, the Orange trailed by five. The Fighting Irish didn’t stop scoring, though.

UND recorded the next four goals before Jamie Trimboli bounced in SU’s second. Then Jackoboice scored again, then Quinn McCahon and then Gleason again. Syracuse’s slides were consistently late, and Porter was consistently beaten. Both Gleason and Costabile recorded first-half hat tricks.

“We knew who (Costabile) was but we didn’t play like we knew who he was,” Desko said. “… Those were big goals to get him started, and he just got their whole team charged up.”

Syracuse started the second half with its own renewed energy. Players on the sideline hollered and jumped with every save, clear or eventual goal. Luke Strang — replacing Porter (six saves) — opened the frame with a door-step deflection. On the other end, Nate Solomon jumped over a defender and essentially smacked the ball in. He tallied another three minutes later on the man-up causing Desko to pat assistant coach Kevin Donahue’s shoulder while the coaches laughed.

With 1:27 left in the third, Stephen Rehfuss scored from UND goalie Matt Schmidt’s left and stared forward as blue jerseys charged him for the celebration. SU was able to string passes together on offense, find space atop the zone and generate clean looks. The Orange positioned Solomon higher — a tactic they’ve used at times this season — and turned the senior attack into a multi-faceted threat. He fed inside, dodged out and caused UND confusion when it came to assigning its long-poles.

While the defense locked UND’s top-threats down, SU mounted another rally. The similar signs appeared. After trailing 11-2, the Orange had scored seven-straight.

“It feels good,” Mellen said of the scoring run. “It’s how it should feel all game but it didn’t.”

The clock wound down. UND’s offense operated quickly and gave SU chances.  Syracuse hit the post thrice and Schmidt hauled a few snipes from the midfield. As time wound down in the frame, Griffin Cook slipped a pass to Rehfuss who then flicked one in. The Orange thought they brought the game within four but time had expired.

Late in the fourth, Kennedy delivered a blow to Gleason in SU’s defensive-half, and the attack doubled over on turf. The pace slowed and referees awarded Kennedy with a one-minute non-releasable call.

Seconds into the man-up, Costabile rifled one over Porter’s head and pushed the margin to three. As the ball bounced through, Costabile looked to his bench and flexed. Voigt said postgame that if not for that penalty, he believed SU would’ve won. Instead, Costabile slammed the door shut.

Standing in the back corner of the field, Desko fielded familiar questions. The early first-half sump was similar, but for the first time this season, a comeback effort wasn’t enough for Syracuse.

“We were banging our heads against the wall,” Desko said. “… The attitude is good, we know this is a big game, we have to play well coming into Notre Dame. And it didn’t happen once again.”

Published on March 30, 2019 at 2:23 pm

Contact Nick: nialvare@syr.edu | @nick_a_alvarez