With a three-goal lead midway through the second half, Syracuse took control of possession and, as a result, took control of its game against Notre Dame. For those final 15 minutes Sunday, Notre Dame held possession of the ball just twice.

The Orange’s constant control of the ball was the theme. Through a barrage of forced turnovers and efficient and constant ball rotation, Syracuse kept the Fighting Irish at bay.

‘Between the defense playing well, Liz making some saves, and the offense riding hard and limiting the other team’s possession — that’s how you hold a team to six or seven goals,’ said SU head coach Gary Gait.

Syracuse’s clockwork frustrated the Irish defense to the point of 20 second-half fouls — compared to only four from the Orange — leading SU to a 12-7 victory in front of a season-high crowd of 821 in the Carrier Dome on Sunday. Syracuse (5-6, 3-0 Big East) held Notre Dame (5-7, 2-2 Big East) scoreless for two separate droughts of at least 15 minutes. The first began at the 21:49 mark in the first half, and the second started with 22:47 to play in the second.

SU is now a perfect 7-0 at home against the Irish. And the seventh win came from Syracuse’s ball control.

‘These last two games, the number of caused turnovers has been exciting for me to watch,’ Gait said. ‘Because that’s been what we’ve been talking about working toward. To see it happen on the field is great.’

The Orange entered Sunday’s contest ranked seventh in the Big East in forcing turnovers, causing 6.4 per game. Notre Dame committed 11 second-half turnovers after only three in the first.

After leading 8-5 at the end of the first half, Syracuse came out of the locker room and continued to control possession for the first 3:50. The series consisted of a string of shots that eventually ended with a Tee Ladouceur goal.

‘It’s mental focus,’ said SU goaltender Liz Hogan. ‘You have to realize that you don’t have to rush it and you can take your time. If they’re only going to put one person on you, then you can take it yourself.’

In two games against Notre Dame last year, Syracuse put itself in a position to have to come back late. When they met in the regular season in South Bend, Ind., it took five second-half goals from SU to come within one, eventually resulting in a 6-5 loss. When the two squads played again in the Big East tournament, the Orange came away with a four-overtime win.

In both of those contests, senior Catherine Rodriguez was on the defensive end, working to take possessions away. On Sunday, however, following a position change from defense to offense, she was working to maintain them.

And the Orange needed no comeback this time. SU took the lead with 18:13 to play in the first half and led the rest of the way.

‘It’s all about the roles that you play,’ Rodriguez said. ‘I haven’t been doing shooting like that since probably high school. I just have to keep driving hard to the cage, and if I don’t have it, I have to remember to keep pulling it out.’

Hogan and SU attack Michelle Tumolo spent several minutes in the latter stages of the game maintaining possession. On the defensive end it was Hogan, and on the offensive end it was Tumolo. They would hold the ball behind their respective nets and use the game clock to their advantage.

Coming off a 17-9 win over Connecticut on Friday, when Syracuse relinquished only three second-half goals, SU showed late-game poise and the ability to assert itself while closing out games once again.

Some of the loudest cheers from the crowd Sunday didn’t come after a goal. Rather, they came when a player had the wherewithal to bring the ball out and reset the offense.

‘Out of those timeouts, that’s what we kept saying,’ Gait said. ‘‘Take our time. Be patient. But be ready to play.”

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Published on April 10, 2011 at 12:00 pm