While the blue jerseys with orange lettering charged from their sideline near the ‘ACC’ logo in the left corner, Austin Fusco walked to an official with his hands out. Syracuse had just been on the wrong side of a comeback, the latest iteration of a rivalry that provides little separation.

Behind Fusco near the 20-yard-line, underneath the thicket of UVA bodies that were celebrating, was Mikey Herring’s stick. The chunk of plastic that was the difference on Saturday. The result of a game plan that had been executed to perfection in the latter half of the fourth quarter and in the final minutes of overtime.

No. 12 Syracuse (2-2, 0-1 Atlantic Coast) was on the verge of its third-straight win following a historic opening-day loss, but it couldn’t put away No. 13 Virginia (3-2, 1-0). The Cavaliers bested the Orange by exploiting the latter’s defense in a way no team has done through the first month of the 2019 season. UVA established a sustainable two-man game in front of the crease and then inverted SU’s short-stick midfielders to score six of the last seven and win 15-14 in the Carrier Dome. With 1:31 left in the extra period, the switch that wasn’t supposed to happen occurred, and Herring took advantage.

“We saw more inverse today,” SU head coach John Desko said. “… We’ve seen more of that today out of them then I think we’ve seen all year. We know they do it, but they were having some success with it and I think they kept going back to it in the fourth quarter.”

Poor offense sunk the Orange in their first game and the unit responded, posting totals of 13, 10 and now 14 in the weeks since the loss to Colgate. Through it all, the defense has been resolute. Returners like Nick Mellen and Tyson Bomberry anchored the backline, and first-year starter Drake Porter has been a standout in net.

Against UVA, Porter played well, tallying 14 more saves. The man-down unit performed, too, allowing scores on only two of Virginia’s nine advantage opportunities. But UVA’s full-strength strategy limited Mellen’s disruption by trapping him inside the crease and used Bomberry’s physicality against him. The Cavaliers prepared to rely on its “big-little” game UVA head coach Lars Tiffany said, and once it worked, they found the recipe to its first Carrier Dome win in a decade.

“Syracuse did a really nice job defending us one-on-one, and they didn’t want to slide,” Tiffany said. “We wanted to continue to exploit that.”

The Orange were hesitant to slide and commit a body to a cutter because of the visitor’s ability to operate in front of Porter’s net, Bomberry said. That success was established early. Midfielder Matt Moore tied the game in the first quarter after scooping a loose ball in front of the cage. Ian Laviano established space and scored a pair off a dive cut.

Syracuse’s defense — which regained Bomberry after he missed a game due to an upper-body injury — forced a few contested shots and allowed the offense to establish a lead. But timely mistakes allowed UVA to shorten the deficit. Michael Kraus scored with seconds left in the opening frame after darting through the zone unimpeded. Late in the second quarter, Laviano and Jeff Conner ran a give-and-go that ended with a doorstep goal that sent SU with a 7-6 lead into the halftime break.

“I think (the game plan) all day was if you’re a dodger, take advantage of your matchup,” Kraus said. “As soon as they come to your face just try to move it and make an easy pass, and that’s what we did. We stayed patient the whole game.”

SU switched most times when faced with a screen. It left shifty, 5-foot-11 attacks like Kraus behind the cage alone with a midfielder that was often a step slow. On some plays, Kraus danced behind the cage, squared up Porter and a white jersey and slipped in front of the crease for a quick score.

UVA’s attacks charged the crease and earned whistles from referees. Both coaches admitted postgame that the new crease rule is hard to enforce consistently, and all four of the game’s pushing penalties were assessed to Syracuse.

When Virginia brought the game to 13-11 with 8:26 left, a man-up goal by Moore after a Bomberry push penalty, the Carrier Dome crowd got the loudest it would become. Orange fans booed, Virginia fans cheered and Desko walked to midfield and pleaded his case.

Virginia kept the pressure steady. Mellen was charged with a tripping call four minutes later as three defenders had halted a shot-attempt, but a yellow flag flew in the air as a blue jersey tumbled to the ground. Eventually, defender Jared Conners slipped a screen and beat Porter. Kraus sped around the crease to tie the game.

In overtime, where one mistake proved the decider, SU was instructed to not switch. But UVA persisted. Herring set a pic for Kraus to Porter’s left, rolled out as two white jerseys followed the ball and triggered the celebration with his overhead-winner. Syracuse players sauntered to the sidelines with heads down, a step too late when it mattered most.

Published on March 2, 2019 at 5:04 pm

Contact Nick: nialvare@syr.edu | @nick_a_alvarez