Kayla Treanor was set in the draw circle. Riley Donahue had just scored off a free position shot, an area she struggled in last Sunday night against Binghamton, and the game was getting ready to restart.

Treanor flicked the ball up to herself and won control. Instead of bringing her stick back down, she looked up and fired a lofty 35-yard pass to Halle Majorana, who had gotten behind the defense. Syracuse scored a goal and took a 5-0 lead just seven seconds after winning control of the draw.

“We don’t really work on that,” Treanor said. “Halle just does a really great job of pushing it up field and does a good job of getting open long.”

No. 3 Syracuse (4-0) stormed out of the gate, scoring seven goals in the opening nine minutes of the game, which included a 2:56 stretch in which the Orange scored four times to build up that 7-0 lead. That dominating sequence set the tone for the Orange in what ended up being a 16-5 blowout victory over Marist (1-1) on Sunday night in the Carrier Dome.

Marist won the first draw control of the game, but promptly turned the ball over. Taylor Gait got possession of the ball near the net and fired it toward goal. The ball ricocheted off the post and back towards the center of the 8-meter arc. Treanor recovered it and among a group of red jerseys, calmly shot the ball and scored, giving SU a 1-0 lead 13 seconds into the game.

In SU’s game at noon, Wagner head coach Katie Rowan called a timeout that spurred her team to score two goals at the end of the first half. But when Marist head coach Jessica O’Brien called timeout after Majorana scored Syracuse’s fifth goal, the Red Foxes couldn’t find the same stability. The Orange scored two goals in the 1:49 after the timeout was called, capping off the 7-0 blitz that effectively ended the game less than a sixth of the way in.

“The first half today we really went after them and played our starting group (which was) a big factor playing almost until the end of the half today,” head coach Gary Gait said. “…they took the timeout and we just continued to press and play hard.”

All-Americans Treanor and Majorana were part of that fantastic first half. The two combined for nine points in the opening frame, tallying three goals and six assists between them. Majorana in particular did a good amount of her work operating from behind the goal.

“Playing against a zone it opens things up,” Majorana said, “so there are a lot of openings. And I think everyone was on the same page today.”

Despite struggling against Marist at the draw circle, SU managed to dominate the first half, going into the break with a 13-1 lead. The 12-goal difference represented the largest margin after the first half this season for Syracuse.

After the first half, Gait pulled all his starters out of the game and emptied the bench. Thirty-seven players saw the field, including backup goalie Erin Coleman, who transferred to SU from Marist. Her teammates on the sidelines exploded in cheers whenever she made a save.

SU passed its first four early season tests with ease, and punctuated the opening stretch with its blowout of Marist. The Orange knows that it flexed its muscles against some inferior opponents. But after playing four early-season games against inferior opponents, SU will face its next challenge: back-to-back Top 10 opponents.

“Great team effort,” Gait said, “and we’re excited to prepare for the next few games.”

Published on February 21, 2016 at 11:01 pm

Contact Tomer: [email protected] | @tomer_langer