Sam Swart received a pass from Emily Hawryschuk, 30 yards from the Canisius goal. The midfielder surged forward, bursting through the 12-meter arc with her eyes locked on net.

But as she reached the 8-meter arc, she decided to pass, finding Megan Carney alone on the left wing for an easy goal. It’s a play Swart wouldn’t have made last season, she said.

Swart had three assists against Canisius, and with six assists through the first four games this year, she’s already matched her total from last year. Syracuse’s 2019 assists-leader Nicole Levy graduated in May, leaving the Orange with a need for a new playmaker, despite returning a majority of their attack. Without Levy — now an assistant coach at Colorado — Swart and Carney, who has a team-high eight assists this season, have emerged.

“I feel like I’m getting older now and junior year kind of came,” Swart said. “This whole past offseason I’ve been working on both sides: on assisting and scoring.”

During the offseason, Swart practiced that exact scenario when she set up Carney in the season opener — driving the goal but keeping her head up to find teammates in space. It’s something Swart has continued to practice every day, at the behest of head coach Gary Gait.

Along with Swart’s improvement, Gait said sophomore attack Carney is the team’s best “feeder.” Playing more in the low attack position behind the opposition goal this year, Carney has leaned on the tips she learned from Levy last season.

Swart and fellow sophomore attack Meaghan Tyrrell said Carney’s vision and accuracy have allowed for her early season success. For Carney, who was second for the Orange in assists last season with 24, the continuity in offensive personnel has been crucial, particularly with Hawryschuk, she said.

“Carney is an amazing feeder,” Hawryschuk said after the season-opener. “So all the goals that come from her, they’re just so easy.”

In last Saturday’s victory over Albany, SU’s two chief playmakers were synced up again. Weaving the ball around the 12-meter arc, Sierra Cockerille found Swart, who strode left and spotted Carney with a step on her defender, giving the sophomore attack a pass in stride for the simple finish.

Even when Swart isn’t directly assisting a goal, her ability to transition the Orange from defense to offense and get the ball into the stick of other playmakers, like Carney, is key. Swart’s tendency to use her speed and penetrate the opposition’s 8-meter arc is part of what makes her an effective part of Gait’s offensive system, midfielder Mary Rahal said.

“We’re there to be support, be those extra cuts, work the ball around,” Rahal said. “Our job isn’t very different from the attack.”

While Levy may have left, the Orange offense, averaging 18 goals per game, is outpacing their 2019 per game rate (14). The offense — Hawryschuck, Carney and Swart — know when each other are going to cut, Swart said. Despite Syracuse’s upset loss to Stony Brook, playmaking hasn’t been the problem.

“It’s a sense of working with each other (for a while) and at practice we’ve been killing it,” Swart said. “Just kind of getting to know each other a little more. We think we know each other well, but we can always have improvement.”

Published on February 19, 2020 at 11:11 pm

Contact Alex: [email protected]