Jen Adams insists the last time Loyola (Maryland) and Syracuse played, it held as much meaning as any other regular season game. The two teams didn’t have the same energy and intensity that she expects to see on Saturday.

“We really started a new season once we hit postseason and NCAAs and we kind of shifted gears,” Adams, Loyola’s head coach, said. “… I anticipate this to be a completely different level.”

The Greyhounds (17-4, 8-0 Patriot) are riding a 16-game win streak which includes a 9-8 win over the Orange two weeks ago. Loyola will be tasked with stopping No. 4 seed SU’s (15-7, 3-4 Atlantic Coast) Kayla Treanor and Kailah Kempney, two players that Adams highlighted, on Saturday at 1 p.m. in the Carrier Dome in the quarterfinals of the NCAA tournament.

Two weeks ago, two of Treanor’s three goals came within a 31-second span with under four minutes to play. Treanor cut Loyola’s lead from 9-6 to 9-8 and, while it wasn’t enough for the win, showed how she could take a game over almost entirely on her own.

“I have a lot of respect for Kayla Treanor,” Adams said. “I think she’s a phenomenal player. Toward the end of that game she really stepped up and put the team on her shoulders.”

In the two teams’ first matchup, Syracuse outdrew Loyola 13-6 and was still unable to win the game. Kempney ranks third in Division I in draw controls mainly because of her specialization in the self-draw.

After the first game, Adams said part of Loyola’s game plan was to prevent Kempney from popping the ball to herself and instead try forcing a ground ball for anyone to pick up. Heading into the quarterfinals, Adams still acknowledges what her team is up against.

“I think Kempney as a drawer is phenomenal and is obviously going to give us headaches,” Adams said.

While Adams recognizes the challenges that await her team, she also knows Syracuse is in a similar situation. Loyola’s Kara Burke tied an NCAA tournament single-game record with eight goals in the Greyhounds’ second-round win over No. 5 seed Boston College, and has a tournament-high 18 points through the first two rounds.

Though she had just two goals against SU two weeks ago, Burke’s been Loyola’s go-to player of late.

“She’s very good in tight spaces, at receiving the ball inside the eight (meter arc) and being a finisher. She’s clutch.” Adams said. “…Where a lot of these other players have been getting a lot of heat, Kara’s able to get open and finish and execute on those shots.”

Published on May 15, 2015 at 2:06 pm

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