For the entire first half on Sunday, Syracuse’s offensive efficiency masked all of its other issues.

Despite a minus 14 margin in ground balls, and a minus six differential in the faceoff X, the Orange sailed into halftime with a two-goal lead.

But in the second half, those areas of concern caught up to SU and cost it the lead. Virginia began to dominate possession in the second half, breaking out for 10 goals in the process to dispose of the Orange by four goals.

‘It was tough because we didn’t do very well at the X, and I guess they had the ball most of the time,’ SU midfielder Luke Cometti said. ‘I think if we could have had the ball on offense we could have kept up with them. That third quarter was tough, and by the time the fourth quarter rolled around, we were a little too far behind.’

This year’s Syracuse squad hopes to take the Virginia contest as a learning experience, as it will work to improve all the areas of its game that will be vital for success as the season progresses. SU’s faceoff struggles and lack of hustle in securing loose balls held the team back for the duration of the second half. The No. 6 Orange (2-1) still hasn’t put together an all-around performance, and the loss to UVa pinpointed all of the team’s areas of concern.

Head coach John Desko said Syracuse’s mood going into the game was no different from the way it has been in the past. And despite having a younger roster, the Orange still expected to play to the level of the top-ranked Cavaliers and leave Charlottesville, Va., with a win.

‘I think it helps us grow up, but to be honest with you, we have a young team, but we go into that game thinking that we’re going to win that game,’ Desko said. ‘This is Syracuse lacrosse and any team that we go in against we think we’re going to win that game.

‘Am I disappointed in the loss? Yes. Can we get better? Yes. And did it help us get better? Yes.’

After the Orange emerged from the first half with a 6-4 lead, there was little reason to conclude that SU was turning in a flawed performance. The Orange matched Virginia in shots taken and had forced one more turnover.

But in the second half, all the negatives materialized as the Cavaliers kept the ball out of Syracuse’s sticks and dominated possession. Cometti said that was the toughest part of the third quarter.

SU simply couldn’t dictate the tempo of the game. And Desko couldn’t mix and match the lineups with Virginia controlling it.

After containing UVa’s attack for 30 minutes of play, the Cavaliers broke through in a big way. Virginia won seven more draws than SU in the third quarter to distance itself by two goals. And that success carried into the fourth quarter as SU struggled to claw back.

‘I think we grew as a team a little bit,’ SU defender Matt Harris said. ‘We kind of experienced the ups and the downs of a big game like that — big stadium, big crowd —so I think that’s definitely going to help us down the road.’

The close defense performed admirably, limiting Virginia’s leading scorers Steele Stanwick and Chris Bocklet to just two goals. But the damage was done in the midfield as the Cavaliers produced 10 goals from that position.

Harris said the performance of UVa’s midfield will prompt Syracuse’s defensive unit to be more aware of the team’s weapons in the future.

‘Shutting down their attack doesn’t mean you shut down their whole team,’ Harris said. ‘They have a lot of great players on their team. We just have to slide a little bit earlier. I think we’ll work on our communication this week to get that pat down.’

The loss came with a lot of lessons for the inexperienced players making up the Orange’s roster. But despite all of its imperfections, Syracuse still hung with the defending national champions.

And although there is still a lot to improve on, SU got a glimpse of how critical it will be to correct its deficiencies moving forward.

‘It’s one game, we’re in good shape and we should be able to play hard the whole game,’ Cometti said. ‘I think we clean up a couple mistakes here or there, we’ll be able to do it.’

adtredin@syr.edu

 

Published on March 6, 2012 at 12:00 pm