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Syracuse’s defense had already allowed eight straight goals from North Carolina in just 12 minutes. The Tar Heels were on the attack again, and SU’s defense shifted to focus on UNC’s Katie Hoeg as she bulleted a pass to Jamie Ortega, who was at point-blank range in front of the net.

By the time the Orange defenders had turned their heads, Ortega had already sent the ball into the back of the net. UNC scored its ninth straight goal, bringing it to a 10-4 lead, which it wouldn’t relinquish for the remainder of the first half.

“When you play a zone defense, you always have people open in the middle, but you hope you get enough pressure that they can’t find those players who are open,” Syracuse head coach Gary Gait said. “They found those openings.”

No. 2 Syracuse (6-1, 4-1 Atlantic Coast) lost 17-6 to No. 1 North Carolina (11-0, 5-0) on Saturday for its first loss of the season. Meaghan Tyrrell led SU’s offense and recorded four goals in the match. In a 50 minute-period, Tyrrell was the only person to score for the Orange. Syracuse’s defense was 17-20 on clears, but UNC’s 17 goals are the most that the Orange’s defense has allowed this year.

Syracuse started off quick on offense, scoring four goals on its first four shots. The Orange were able to find the back of the net with dodges and spin moves in the 8-meter. Tyrrell scored first for the Orange, roll dodging from the center of the field and shooting low with her left hand.

The Orange’s defense had to be cautious about letting the Tar Heels start their offense from behind the net, Gait said.

“They beat teams when they pass from behind and get cutters up front,” Gait said before the game.

UNC’s first goal went exactly how Gait had predicted. Four minutes in, North Carolina’s Tayler Warehime positioned herself behind the goal and passed it to Scottie Rose Growney, right over the head of Asa Goldstock, to tie the game at 1-1.

As the game progressed, Syracuse adapted to UNC’s back-to-front play. At one instance in the first half, North Carolina positioned itself in the back again. But midfielder Sierra Cockerille recognized UNC’s plans and intercepted a pass.

Syracuse also struggled to guard in transition. After an SU turnover — it had seven in the first half — the Tar Heels would charge down the field in transition. North Carolina capitalized on defensive takeaways and Syracuse’s inability to fall back on defense. After Ortega picked up a ground ball, the Tar Heels moved in transition. Ella Simkins was forced to foul, giving UNC a free position opportunity.

The Orange defense received two yellow cards prior to Simkin’s foul and one more after Ortega’s fourth and final goal in the first half. Syracuse totaled 32 fouls in the game and five yellow cards.

The reason for SU’s disorganized play was the team’s inability to find balance on both ends of the field, which led the Orange to try and make up for a bad offensive play with an aggressive defense, Gait said.

“We were just chasing around, trying to keep our head above water, and that’s when you get yellow cards,” Gait said.

On an opportunity to end its scoring drought after almost 25 minutes, Morgan Alexander tried a behind-the-back shot that was saved seven minutes into the second half. UNC charged down field, and Kerry Defliese was forced to foul, leading to another Tar Heel free-position goal.

The Orange finally ended the drought two minutes later, when Tyrrell scored in similar fashion to her first goal — shooting with her left hand and putting it in the top-right corner. But, North Carolina won the draw control and sprinted down the field 20 seconds later. The Tar Heels scored again to extend its lead to 12-5.

Tyrrell scored again, but North Carolina rallied for four more goals to take a 16-6 lead and start a running clock. North Carolina was able to penetrate Syracuse’s zone, getting one-on-one opportunities with Goldstock. Goldstock struggled in the first half, with her first save coming 20 minutes into the game. She finished with six saves in the game and a 20% save percentage in the first period.

The majority of shots for North Carolina were right in front of Goldstock’s face, Gait said. The Tar Heels also varied up their shots by going from low-to-high, leading to a “tough day” for Goldstock, Gait said.

“They didn’t give (Goldstock) any easy saves,” Gait said. “There were six hard earned saves today for her.”

Syracuse had one final opportunity from the free position to score, but UNC goalie Taylor Moreno recorded her 11th save of the game, stopping the Orange’s opportunity. North Carolina charged down in transition, and Hoeg positioned herself directly to the left of Goldstock at point-blank range.

Unlike Ortega, Hoeg didn’t dunk the ball. But Syracuse’s mistake from the free position proved costly, as Hoeg tried a shot that Goldstock hadn’t seen before, shooting behind her back and scoring the final goal of the afternoon.

“We had chances to fight back, and we continued to make mistakes,” Gait said.

Published on April 3, 2021 at 1:29 pm

Contact Anish: [email protected] | @anish_vasu