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Syracuse was going to need to slow down one of the fastest teams and most dynamic offenses in the country if it was going to avenge the loss from earlier in the season. It did, but didn’t do nearly enough to win at the neutral site.

After six weeks out of the national rankings and nearly a year of no success against ranked opponents, Syracuse took down No. 15 Princeton after Joey Spallina, Cole Kirst and Finn Thomson each had at least three goals. Goalie Will Mark added 17 saves, helping the Orange shut out the Tigers in the fourth quarter and catapulting them back into the top 20.

Goals came sparingly on Saturday, and Syracuse was able to keep pace with the Tar Heels despite struggling at the faceoff X and on clears, even retaking the lead in the fourth quarter twice. The Orange held a lead with 6:17 remaining in the game before giving up two unanswered goals. Then, a missed shot from Spallina pinged off the goalie, giving them possession, and Michael Leo followed it up with a game-winning goal.

Here are some observations from Syracuse’s win over the Tar Heels.

Clearing struggles

Syracuse is one of the youngest teams in the country, flashing one of the best incoming freshman classes that has hit a steep learning curve in their first season of ACC play. With that comes tantalizing shots on goal and strong first quarter defense, but it also means frustrating lapses in judgment and poor mistakes that lead to opponents stacking goals and burning Syracuse, which they’d done to the Orange five times already this season.

“They’re their own worst enemy,” ESPN color commentator Quint Kessenich said in dismay after a fourth failed clear led to a fourth goal from North Carolina. Kessenich echoed the groans of the Maryland High School stadium filled mostly with Syracuse fans who watched as Landon C\ry failed to clear the ball in the middle of the field and Lance Tillman picked it up. He found defender Dewey Egan right in front of the crease, who turned around the shot for a goal to give the Tar Heels a lead.

They didn’t go away, persisting throughout the first half. The mistakes that kept hindering the Orange allowed the Tar Heels to apply pressure even with a relatively low-scoring first half. The Orange, who came into the game with an 89.3% clear rate, struggled to cleanly get the ball past the 50 yard line.

North Carolina applied pressure from the second Mark ripped off a pass following a save. At one point in the first quarter, Mark flung an ill-advised, high ball intended for Caden Kol that James Matan picked off and quickly turned around for a goal.

Faceoff struggles return

Syracuse hadn’t completely overcome its early season faceoff struggles during the middle of the season. It still was switching out between Johnny Richiusa and Jack Fine at the faceoff X and ranked 63rd in the country heading into Saturday afternoon’s matchup with North Carolina in faceoff win percentage.

But it was pulling the nose up on a unit that couldn’t figure things out at midfield and was hindering Syracuse’s chances at sustaining leads throughout the game against ranked opponents. Once again, however, it struggled on faceoffs and lost the first four attempts to senior Andrew Tyeryar.

By the end of the first half, the Orange had won just four faceoffs. By the end of the game, a total of 10 went SU’s way. Syracuse could barely get a clean faceoff off at the X, opting instead for the tactic of hitting it out to the wings and hoping for one of them to pick up a ground ball.

Tyeryar quickly adjusted whenever Syracuse won that way, batting the ball around toward the Orange’s goal as he gradually gained position on either Richiusa or Fine. But unlike other teams whose wings would fight for the ground ball alongside Syracuse, Tyeryar kept the ball close and picked it up on his own.

With just over four minutes in the third quarter and the game tied at nine goals apiece, Fine appeared to have a faceoff win and was crouched right over the ball. Then as he moved his stick down to pick up the ball and complete the win, Tyeryar picked it away and batted it toward himself. He was able to pick it up, completing the sequence by going all the way, slicing through Syracuse’s defense and giving the Tar Heels a 10-9 lead.

Kept it close long enough to win

The last time Syracuse played, it allowed — at that point in the season — the most goals in its 19-13 loss to the Tar Heels. UNC dominated the second and fourth quarters, totalling 12 total goals during those frames en route to the defeat, the most lopsided loss Syracuse had been handed all season.

After the loss, head coach Gary Gait said that the Orange were compounding their mistakes and not turning stops on defense into scoring chances on offense, leading to what was at the time the largest loss of the season. If Syracuse was going to succeed, it was going to need to limit mistakes and convert goals whenever it had possession.

Keeping pace with North Carolina, especially when the faceoff game was lopsided and the field completely tipped against the Orange, wasn’t going to create a good recipe for success to concoct a second straight ranked win. And Syracuse, who is usually a little more of an up-tempo team than it was on Saturday, tried to slow their play down whenever they had possession.

Though they went over 10 minutes in the first and second quarters without a goal, they slowed one of the top offenses with calculated passes around the horn and setting up plays from X.

Their defense — at least early — forced errand shots from far outside the crease and capitalized on aggressive penalties from North Carolina that led to man-up opportunities. In the third quarter, it held the Tar Heels from a shot on goal until the seven minute mark in the quarter and even retook the lead when Jackson Birtwistle beat out his man streaking down the lane and spun around a pass from Griffin Cook into the net.

Then, Leo’s diving goal from the left side of the crease with 12 seconds left gave Syracuse a 15-14 lead, a win, and kept Syracuse alive for postseason play.

Published on April 15, 2023 at 6:28 pm

Contact Anthony: aalandt@syr.edu | @anthonyalandt