After two-straight losses in which Syracuse allowed a combined 32 goals, top defender Nick Mellen reflected on the rough patch.

“We are kind of shying away from the fundamentals,” Mellen said on March 22. “I think we have to get back to executing the simple things we are taught, specifically defensively, just getting back in the hole.”

At each practice over the two-week stretch of losses, coaches asked players in the team huddle to state a basic rule of the defense. The SU defensemen highlighted tactics such as getting back in the hole, meaning retreating toward their own goal, or fighting over picks. All little things adding up to the defense’s overall goal: “protecting the house,” a term Syracuse uses to refer to the dangerous scoring area right outside the crease.

On Saturday, No. 10 Syracuse (5-3, 3-0 Atlantic Coast) limited the No. 7 Notre Dame (5-3, 1-1) offense to its lowest goal output of the season (six) and denied all eight UND man-up opportunities. Syracuse goalkeeper Dom Madonna notched 13 saves while the defense caused nine turnovers. After not holding a team to fewer than 10 goals since its season opener against Binghamton, Syracuse’s defense protected its cage better than it has all season.

“Our guys did a great job,” Madonna said. “Especially inside, there was three or four times when they were trying to cram it inside and guys came down on sticks and didn’t allow them to even get a hand on it.”

Syracuse had given up at least a four-goal run in every game against a ranked opponent prior to Saturday. When it looked like the Fighting Irish started a scoring spree, Syracuse didn’t allow it.

In the second quarter, after a save by ND goalkeeper Matt Schmidt and outlet pass to midfielder Timmy Phillips, Syracuse’s Ryan Simmons started running. Standing behind the goal line at the time of the shot, Simmons was the furthest SU player from the Orange cage. Still, he darted down the hashes.

Seconds later, more than 60 yards down field, Simmons hustle turned into a trail check. As Phillips neared the SU cage, the ball popped out of his stick, and Notre Dame’s scoring chance was dead.

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Later in the game, it was Mellen who collapsed back to the hole. With Syracuse man-down for the second time in just more than two minutes, ball movement had sucked Syracuse’s defense up. Mellen had rotated up from his spot in the bottom right of the zone, leaving attack Brian Willetts alone on the crease. When the pass zipped down to Willetts, Mellen took off. The redshirt sophomore launched himself at Willets, forcing the attack inside the crease. Again, SU protected its house.

“All year we’ve kind of been trying to work to prevent those big waves that other teams have on us,” Mellen said, “and we were kind of noticing throughout the game that a lot of the calls weren’t in our favor so we just kind of said look we have to bear down here.”

Syracuse’s defense moved fluidly, sliding when necessary while staying compact in the middle and challenging passes. In the fourth quarter, UND trapped Brett Kennedy with a pick near the restraining box. Before UND midfielder Brendan Collins attacked the cage, Grant Murphy filled Kennedy’s spot. Collins settled for a shot from the 25-yard line which Madonna denied low.

Still, Notre Dame held possession off the rebound, and Ryder Garnsey pressed inside from goal-line extended. Mellen denied access to the crease, pressed his stick down on Garnsey’s hands and forced a pass to go wide of attack Mikey Wynne.

Repeatedly, Syracuse forced Notre Dame to send risky passes. One resulted in the first goal of the game, when a failed Notre Dame feed from the X trickled past midfield, leading to an SU fastbreak. Another came on the man-up when Garnsey threw to the only place an SU defender wasn’t, roughly 20 yards from ball. The gutsy pass didn’t connect with Willetts, and another Notre Dame man-up opportunity fell short.

“Fortunately, our man down did a good job of staying tight and knowing who they were,” Desko said. “Notre Dame does a really nice job of moving their people and getting some skip passes, and I think our defense understood that and took away the skip passes today.”

By game’s end, it had become obvious. Notre Dame had little room to maneuver offensively.

In Syracuse’s best defensive performance of the season, the Orange played by its defensive rules.

Published on April 1, 2018 at 9:48 pm

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