No. 4 seed Syracuse (17-5, 5-2 Atlantic Coast) will be taking on Stony Brook (17-3, 6-0 America East) in the second round of the NCAA tournament on Sunday. The game will be played at Newton Campus Lacrosse Field — Boston College’s home field — because SU could not secure enough hotel rooms in the Syracuse area for a game it would have hosted.

The Orange had a first round bye while the Seawolves beat BC in the first round, 11-9, on Friday. Syracuse is coming off a disappointing ACC tournament in which it let a late lead slip in an eventual loss to North Carolina. This tournament is also the last chance for Kayla Treanor, one of SU’s best players ever, to help her team win a national championship.

Here’s everything you need to know before SU plays Stony Brook.

All-Time Series: Syracuse leads, 1-0

Last time they played: These two teams met in the second round of the NCAA tournament two seasons ago on May 11, 2014. In that matchup, Alyssa Murray scored the first four goals for the Orange in what ended up being a 10-2 lead by halftime.

SU took a 13-3 lead before the Seawolves scored three straight goals to end a game that was already out of reach. Syracuse dominated every facet of the game, outshooting Stony Brook 22-9 (including 16-3 in the first half), and dominated the matchup in the draw circle, winning 14 of the 19 opportunities.

The Stony Brook Report: The win over Boston College was the Seawolves’ third-ever win in the NCAA tournament. But they’re still a powerhouse team, even despite the limited postseason success. The only three losses Stony Brook has suffered this year all came against ranked teams, and they came by just a combined six goals over those games.

SBU is a top-five team both offensively and defensively. The Seawolves’ 13.8 goals per game ranks fifth in the country and its’ 6.1 goals allowed average ranks second. Stony Brook also is fourth in the country with a 54.7 free-position percentage and second in fewest turnovers committed per game with 10.4.

Freshman goalie Anna Tesoriero ranks ninth in the country with a 50.7 save percentage. Offensively, the Seawolves are led by Courtney Murphy. Her 99 goals lead the country by a wide margin.

How Syracuse beats Stony Brook: Dominate on the draw. Syracuse has been led by Treanor this year and ranks second in the country with 14.5 draw controls per game. And even though Stony Brook is pretty dominant in most categories, it only racks up 11.1 draw controls per game, which is 58th in the country.

Stony Brook doesn’t commit turnovers and capitalizes on its shooting opportunities, as evident by its 55 shooting percentage. SU will have to counter that by winning possession on the draw and scoring on those possessions.

 

Liam Sheehan | Asst. Photo Editor

 

Numbers to Know:

15 — Stony Brook has won 15 games in a row. Its last loss came against then-No. 9 South California on Mar. 14.

9 — SU has won its first round matchup in the NCAA tournament every year since 2007.

99 — By scoring four goals in Friday’s win, Murphy broke the NCAA record for single-season goals scored, breaking the previous record of 98 set in 1984.

Player to watch — Courtney Murphy

Murphy has racked up the goals over the last three years. She led all freshman two years ago with 61 goals. Then last year she racked up 71 goals and this season she’s set the all-time record with a whopping 99. Her passing has also improved. She had 12 assists over the first two years of her career, but has racked up 15 this season alone. Murphy scored four goals against SU the last time these two teams met, but SU has done a good job taking away teams’ top options this season by using defenders Brenna Rainone and Alexa Radziewicz to faceguard them. Whether or not Murphy gets going against the Orange could prove to be a key element in Sunday’s game.

Published on May 14, 2016 at 6:26 am

Contact Tomer: [email protected] | @tomer_langer