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No. 3 seed Syracuse broke a 5-5 halftime tie against No. 6 Florida in the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals with a 5-0 run to open the second half. The Orange found offensive success against the Gators with 12 second-half goals as freshman Emma Ward led the Orange offensively, recording a career-high six goals in the matchup. Syracuse will advance to the Tournament semifinals after claiming a 17-11 victory over the Gators.

Here are three takeaways from Syracuse’s quarterfinals win over Florida:

Offensive creativity

Syracuse’s motion offense assisted all season against some of the nation’s best defenses. But against Florida, the second-best scoring defense in the country, the Orange’s setup didn’t work early on.

Still, Syracuse forced the motion, using it on almost every possession for the opening 15 minutes of the game. However, the Gators were able to face guard the Orange attack and make proper switches when players crossed each other in the motion.

SU moved its strategy away from the motion by sending a cutter in the 8-meter. The first score for Syracuse with this new tactic came after Emily Ehle curled from the right side of the 8-meter and Sam Swart had a defender on her at the top of the arc.

Swart beat her defender, slashing to the cage, and she scored off a delivery from Ehle to give the Orange a 4-2 lead. Six minutes later, Syracuse scored again with the same exact play, but this time Jenny Markey found the back of the net.

In the second half, Syracuse returned to the motion, but it ran pick-and-rolls and gave attacks isolation plays. Emma Ward struck first in the last period after Ehle set a screen for her inside the 8-meter. Katelyn Mashewske won the draw, and Emma Tyrrell got a one-on-one matchup, scoring after a dodge.

Ward was able to get separation inside the 8-meter regardless of how many defenders were on her, and she found the back of the net three more times by the end of the afternoon.

With less than 11 minutes left in the second half, Florida scored two consecutive goals before Ward got the ball inside the 8-meter. The Gators had no answer for Ward as she whipped the ball into the net.

Holes in the zone

Florida found the back of the net 20 seconds into the game. After a scrappy draw control, the Orange lost possession of the ball and the Gators moved in transition with Brianna Harris finding the back of the net.

After Florida’s first few goals, the Orange moved into its high-pressure zone offense — where they shift up and face-guard players in most of the offensive zone. The aggressive play tends to leave the center of the 8-meter open, which the Gators took advantage of early.

With nine minutes left in the first half, the Gators made a lot of passes, but Syracuse wasn’t able to properly communicate and get a defender on each attack. Brianna Harris found Paisley Eagan cutting into the center of the crease and found the back of the net to cut the Orange’s lead to one.

By the final half, the Orange fixed most of their defensive issues, as they didn’t allow Florida to score in the first 10 minutes of the last half. Syracuse filled the holes in the zone, maintaining pressure on the Gators’ attack.

Still, Florida returned to its early success finding the center of zone halfway through the second half. With most of SU’s defense’s eyes peering at Florida’s attack at the top of the 8-meter, Kassidy Bresnahan curled from behind the net to the center of the zone. Bresnahan scored to make the game 12-8.

Ella Simkins and Kerry Defliese created issues for Florida, forcing turnovers on perfect opportunities for the Gators. The Gators couldn’t find answers to Simkins and Defliese’s aggressive play and they weren’t able to come back in the game.

Dominating the draw circle

In the opening two draw controls, Syracuse lost both battles to Florida. But the Orange won the following seven.

SU’s success came from Katelyn Mashewske and Ella Simkins, who both were able to scoop the ball into a position where they could pick it up. In scrappy draw control battles, Florida was unable to contain Mashewske and Simkins from getting their stick on the ball.

But, the Orange struggled to convert draw control wins into scores throughout the first half. After each victory in the circle, Syracuse would either get off a shot too high or turn the ball over. By the end of the opening period, SU had 10 turnovers.

Mashewske maintained her success in the second half with wins against the Gators’ leading best player in the circle, Shannon Kavanagh. The Orange brought in other players to the circle like Braelie Kempney, but they moved back to their original specialists —Mashewske and Simkins — as Florida attempted a comeback.

At the end of the game, Syracuse put Mashewske back into play and continued to prevent Florida from getting an offensive possession. With a minute left, Mashewske won the draw and the Gators lost the final opportunity to score.

Published on May 22, 2021 at 5:11 pm

Contact Anish: [email protected] | @anish_vasu