Gary Gait’s goal for his offense is to convert on 50 percent of its shots. On a good day, the head coach hopes for a little better, at 60 percent.

No. 7 Syracuse’s attack, utilizing more structure than in previous games, performed well beyond Gait’s usual goal on Saturday, converting on 86.6 percent of its shots in the first half and nearly 67 percent for the game. The result was a 22-8 Syracuse (9-4, 2-2 Atlantic Coast) domination of Virginia Tech (6-8, 0-5) at the Carrier Dome.

“(The) offense was sharp, focused, went full speed, made plays and really shot well,” Gait said. “… That’s what we kind of worked on the (offensive) end all week, was executing and they delivered.”

SU’s offense came out firing from the beginning. Just 35 seconds into the game, SU midfielder Taylor Gait forced a shooting space call and scored on the ensuing free position.

Ten minutes later, SU attack Halle Majorana passed to cutting attack Kailah Kempney, whose goggles were knocked off her face but she still found the back of the net.

SU already had five goals to the Hokies’ one.

“(It) just took us a while to kind of get into the tempo of the game and be a little more prepared for some of the shots and the speed of the shots,” Virginia Tech head coach Megan Burker said.

Syracuse’s players were easily cutting through the middle of Virginia Tech’s defense, leading to shots from point-blank range.

The Hokies tried switching to backup goalie Hannah Sieger midway through the first half, but she let in the only three shots she faced and starter Meagh Graham returned with the score 9-2, SU.

“As much as we felt prepared for (Syracuse’s athleticism), that really opened up some high-percentage shots for them which helped them convert early on,” Burker said.

For the first half of the season, Gait let his players freelance on offense and improvise at their own discretion. But on Saturday, the Orange settled the ball nearly every time it went on offense.

Attack Paige Savia and defender Paige Rogers stood on the sidelines holding large cards with numbers printed on them, signaling different plays. Occasionally, SU’s bench would yell out a number for the players on the field to hear.

With three minutes left in the first half, SU attack Kayla Treanor held the ball near the 12-meter mark and glanced over the sideline for the play. She and midfielder Loren Ziegler ran toward each other in the middle of the field as Treanor faked flipping her the ball. Two defenders moved to Ziegler, allowing Treanor to score easily.

Majorana raised her stick in the air in celebration and hugged Treanor. The lead was now pushed to 12-5.

The second half was similar to the first, as nine of SU’s 18 shots went for goals.

“Everyone came out fired up,” Majorana said. “Great shooting on everyone’s part.”

When the final whistle blew, Syracuse led Virginia Tech 33-28 in shots, equaled it with 16 draw controls and both sides had picked up 17 ground balls.

But it didn’t matter. The difference was the efficiency.

Syracuse’s offense implemented a new structured style and was able to capitalize on a large amount of its offensive possessions. The attack found players cutting open in the middle and converted on one-on-one opportunities, leading to its highest goal total of the season.

“The new offense has been great,” Majorana said. “It allowed more opportunities for more people to score and I think we really executed well today.”

Published on April 4, 2015 at 2:59 pm

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