Just over a minute into the second quarter, senior defender Sarah Cooper matched up against Loyola’s leading scorer Livy Rosenzweig again. Rosenzweig already scored once past her just 40 seconds into the game, but this time Cooper played much tighter defense.

As Rosenzweig tried to spin and shoot in a similar spot to her first goal, she launched an ill-advised underhand shot that went high and wide from the goal. The Greyhounds regained possession, but there wasn’t enough time on the shot clock to develop a meaningful play as their possession ended in a shot-clock violation.

In No. 4 Syracuse’s (9-2, 4-0 Atlantic Coast) narrow 14-13 victory over No. 6 Loyola (9-1, 2-0 Patriot League), the Orange’s defense caused six turnovers and collected 17 ground balls to help develop a large enough lead that would be enough to hold off the undefeated Greyhounds. Kimber Hower recorded a career-high 12 saves, with five in the final frame.

It would eventually be the defense that secured the win in the final seconds. After offsetting fouls overruled the Greyhound tying goal, they received one more possession out of the timeout. Georgia Latch attempted to pass the ball to a teammate on the top of the 12-meter, but she overshot which allowed Tessa Queri to intercept the pass, run up field and clear as time expired.

“The defense really stepped up tonight and made key and critical plays for us to win that game,” head coach Kayla Treanor said. “They just played really great team defense.”

Before the Greyhounds’ 4-0 run, it seemed the Orange defensively played a complete game. To begin scoring for SU, as Loyola tried to clear near midfield, Shay Clevenger misconnected a pass which allowed Sam Swart to steal and scoop up the ground ball and go coast-to-coast for an unassisted goal.

After Loyola’s early goal, the Orange defense held them scoreless for over 11 minutes until the Greyhounds scored two more goals before the quarter ended as both teams entered the second quarter tied at 3-3.

Throughout the game, Treanor said she purposely matched Cooper with Rosenzweig to stop the Greyhound’s season-leading scorer. As Rosenzweig began to cut down the right side of the 12-meter, she anticipated to receive a pass in stride for a scoring opportunity, but Cooper’s tight defense caused an incompletion. Once the Greyhounds regained possession, they couldn’t develop a threatening play before the shot clock expired and again turned the ball over.

“We matched (Rosenzweig) up with Sarah Cooper throughout the game and I think Sarah was just relentless all game, and she was on the draw controls throughout the whole game as well,” Treanor said. “(Cooper) just really stepped up and owned it.”

In the last minute of the first half, the Greyhounds seemed to secure the final possession for one last scoring opportunity. But near Loyola’s own restraining line, Emma Tyrrell pressured Riley Olmstead one-on-one and as Olmstead lofted a pass over Emma’s head, she deflected it and secured the loose ball.

On the ensuing possession in the final seconds, Emma capitalized on her caused turnover and launched a long pass to Emily Hawryschuk in front of the cage which deflected off Hawryschuk’s stick into the net to extend SU’s lead to 7-5 into halftime.

After a high scoring nine-goal third quarter, Hower made clutch saves in the fourth quarter that did just enough to hold off the Greyhounds.

“Without one piece of the (defensive) unit, it doesn’t work,” Hower said. “We struggled switching in and out of zone to a man (defense). The fact that we could do that against a top 10 team, everyone’s confidence goes up from it and going forward, we’re going to take that in game down the stretch.”

Few of those saves came on free-position attempts, an area that in the past has allowed opponents to get back into games. Just under seven minutes left in the game, Sam Fiedler had an opportunity to cut the score to 14-12. She lined up for her free-position shot at the top of the 8-meter and began to dodge straight toward Hower. She caught the shot and began the successful clear.

On another free-position shot five minutes earlier, Jillian Wilson shot the ball at Hower, but Hower guessed correctly, earning the save before recording a ground ball. Hower made notable saves on some of the easier opportunities for Loyola which proved pivotal in the one-goal victory.

Published on March 29, 2022 at 10:46 pm

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