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Syracuse entered Wednesday’s home game against UAlbany coming off a 16-4 victory over Pittsburgh in the first Atlantic Coast Conference game of the season. The dominant performance against the Panthers saw the Orange lead by double digits at halftime and keep their perfect record and No. 2 ranking intact. Syracuse controlled the game from the start, putting 19 more shots on goal than the Panthers.

Four days later, the Great Danes traveled 150 miles west across New York State to take on Syracuse in the Dome. UAlbany has been a perennial powerhouse within the America East Conference, despite rarely rising to the occasion on the national stage.

But, the Great Danes failed to beat the Orange for the first time in program history on Wednesday. The game got out of hand early, as SU sported a double digit lead by the end of the first quarter. Syracuse improved to 5-0 on the year – a record it has achieved two out of the last three seasons.

Here are some observations from Syracuse’s 22-5 win over UAlbany:

Emma Ward dishing

Emma Ward was dishing on Wednesday afternoon, racking up a season-high five assists. But, she was particularly effective when positioned behind the net. Four of her five assists were passes originating from behind the net.

Less than five minutes into the game, Ward was set up dead center behind the goal. She saw Megan Carney hanging within the 8-meter arc and threaded a pass over the crossbar and through several defenders. Carney caught it quickly and scored. Albany goalie Aislinn Sweeney didn’t even have time to turn around after trying to track Ward behind her and the Orange were suddenly out to a 3-1 lead.

Soon after that, Ward possessed the ball behind the net again, moving to the left side. She launched a pass all the way across and over the net to Meaghan Tyrrell, who was waiting near the right post. Meaghan caught the ball and placed it in past the left side of Sweeney to put the Orange up 6-1.

Still in the first quarter, Ward once again held the ball behind the goal. But this time, she sprung up in front of the right post, turned around, and found Jenny Markey cutting through the middle of the seam. Markey quickly took a shot as she was knocked down by the Great Dane defenders. Nonetheless, the shot whizzed past Sweeney’s left shoulder for the seventh goal of the day for the Orange. She later set up Olivia Adamson for a score from behind the net to open the second half.

Meaghan Tyrrell returns to elite form

Meaghan had an uncharacteristically pedestrian game in the previous matchup against Pitt. The Preseason All-American didn’t find the back of the net against the Panthers and recorded two assists. She hadn’t had that few points since the Northwestern game on March 1, 2022.

But, the attacker wasted no time on Wednesday, tallying five points by the end of the first frame, scoring a jaw-dropping goal with a little over three minutes left in the opening period.

Carney sent a pass from behind the net to Meaghan, but she hesitated for a second when she caught the ball. With a defender in her face, she faked to her left, then right, then moved back to her left. The defender was disoriented, freeing up space for the attacker to bounce a shot in front of Sweeney. The ball ricocheted up in the air and went in at the top left of the net. This extended the Orange’s lead to 8-1.

The graduate student finished with seven points following an assist to Natalie Smith in the second quarter and one to Sierra Cockerille in the waning minutes of the third quarter.

Tessa Queri has career game

Tessa Queri transferred to Syracuse before last season and ended up playing in all 21 games in 2022. She didn’t record a point all year in her defensive role as a midfielder. This year, she’s started to find the stat sheet, posting a point in three of the first four games. And on Wednesday afternoon, Queri broke through for her first multi-point game as a member of the Orange.

Five minutes into the game, she saw Ward cutting up from behind the left side of the net. The midfielder flipped it to Ward, who then moved to her right, crossing Sweeny’s face. Ward reached over with her stick past her defender and rocketed a shot for the Orange’s fourth goal of the afternoon.

With less than a minute in the first period, Queri fielded a pass from Carney as she cut diagonally within the 8-meter toward the goal. The midfielder shot it low near the left post, got a swift bounce and brought the lead to 10-1.

Overwhelming number of shots

Syracuse posted an incredible shot deficit against the Great Danes. The team finished the game with 16 more shots on goal than UAlbany and 20 more shots in general. This difference was particularly drastic in the first period, where Syracuse outshot the Great Danes by 11.

The Orange also spread it around, with 12 players putting a shot on goal, eight of whom had multiple. This sheer volume forced UAlbany into a wildly low save percentage at .185. The Orange’s two highest shot outputs have come in the last two games.

Published on March 1, 2023 at 6:25 pm

Contact Matthew: [email protected]