Liz Hogan saved three shots in the second half. The Connecticut offense took only six.

For a Syracuse team that came into the game losers of three of its past four, the defense was a necessary constant that held steady the whole game. A defense that has given up 16-plus goals three times this season, and six in the second half Saturday, buckled down and ignited an offense to pull away with the win.

‘Other people busted their butts,’ the senior goaltender Hogan said. ‘So we didn’t have to play defense as much.’

Friday’s defensive effort allowed Syracuse’s offense to score nine unanswered goals to start the second half. The Orange defense was able to stay relaxed and keep control of the game. Up until the 5:39 mark in the second half, the Orange held the Huskies to a season-low six goals. And all six of those goals had come in the first half.

With nine Husky scores on the afternoon, Syracuse kept its opposition under its season average of 11.89 goals per game. If not for two late Connecticut scores in the last minute of play, it would have equaled the mark it set against Maryland on March 12.

‘As a defense as a whole, we certainly set a goal for ourselves to keep it at a certain number,’ Hogan said.

But in a game that turned from back-and-forth to blowout, it was the offense that bailed SU out for the first half.

The Huskies came out aggressive and were unafraid of a team that they have still yet to beat in 13 tries. Syracuse scored its first two goals on free positions, but allowed two in return on impressive drives and fancy footwork from UConn junior attack M.E. Lapham.

Eventually, something began to click. And Lapham, a player who leads the Huskies with 34 goals and had already chipped in two early ones, was quieted for the rest of the game.

‘We let in more goals than we would of liked to the first half, so that really motivates us the second half to shut it down,’ Hogan said.

Syracuse outshot UConn 33-18 and forced 21 turnovers while committing 27 fouls. The defense was able to hold Lapham, in part, because of a relentless Syracuse attack that took some pressure off of the defense.

And while the SU offense got rolling, the Orange defense continued at with its relentless pressure. It forced 16 turnovers in the second half, many of them stopping potential scoring opportunities for the Huskies. The more Syracuse pushed the ball on the offensive end, the more stops it made defensively.

‘They were making it very difficult to get the ball down on the offensive end for Connecticut,’ SU head coach Gary Gait said. ‘When they did get it down there, they were poised and made some stops and the defense played well.’

During its defensive shutdown, the Syracuse offense got shot opportunities nearly every time it got the ball in opposing territory. In the latter stages of the game, two to three defenders were collapsing on each Connecticut player as they tried to make a move towards the net.

Now that SU has returned home and gotten the offense back on track, the defense has followed suit. In two of the Orange’s last four games it gave up 16 goals. That was far from the case in this game.

‘We just want to play good defense and have good communication,’ Hogan said. ‘And when you do that, you’re going to have a lot of success.’

[email protected]

 

Published on April 8, 2011 at 12:00 pm