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Regardless of Syracuse’s lead, its effort never wavered. The foot remained firmly on the gas pedal all game long.

With just over a minute remaining in the first half, Syracuse led 13-2 and was in complete control. A pass into heavy traffic saw the Orange lose possession momentarily as a mass of purple and white jerseys converged on the ground ball. Emma Tyrrell got there first. Using the head of her stick, she poked the ball out in front of her and away from the defensive zone. The shot clock continued to wind down as she escaped pressure.

Emma immediately flicked a high-arching pass into the middle, where Olivia Adamson lay waiting. Amidst several UAlbany players, Adamson leapt up, nestling the ball into her pocket before taking a few battered steps toward the middle. Then, she sent a blistering shot into the back of the net. Syracuse’s advantage now increased to 12.

“We played hard throughout the whole game,” said head coach Kayla Treanor. “It’s really hard to score 22 points in a game.”

Syracuse (5-0, 1-0 Atlantic Coast) refused to let opportunities slip away against UAlbany, persevering on second-chance opportunities when it couldn’t convert on the first, to decimate the Great Danes (2-3, 0-0 America East) 22-5. From the jump, SU was in control and sped out to an early 10-point lead by the second quarter against its in-state rivals. Featuring relentless pursuit on both sides of the ball, Emma Ward, Megan Carney and Meaghan Tyrrell all finished with seven points.

In the first period, SU won the draw 9-3 and outshot the Great Danes 14-3. Carney scored four goals in the first for the second-straight game, while Meaghan added three of her own.

Up 3-1 in the first, SU’s Tessa Queri earned a free-position shot. But rather than taking it herself, the midfielder passed to Ward, who had a head of steam circling the crease from behind. Ward emerged on the left of the goal and took the shot in stride to put the Orange up three with 9:58 left in the period.

The transition offense came fast and successful for Syracuse off of the draw, which they won 23-5 — the biggest single-game discrepancy of the season. Draw-control specialist Kate Mashewske continued to create offensive possessions, which led SU to outshoot UAlbany 32-12.

“It just allows us to have possession a lot more,” Treanor said of Mashewske’s draw success. “That means we are playing make-it-take-it. I think Kate took on that role of being able to draw more to herself, which is something she’s been working on.”

Extra possessions just meant extra shots and scores for the Orange.

Meaghan’s second errant shot of the first period was a sidearm swipe that went over the goal. But Ward gained possession at the X. Spinning out of a failed crease roll to the right side, Ward looked up to see Jenna Markey streaking down the middle of the lane. Collecting Ward’s pass, Markey whistled a shot into the top of the goal to make it 7-1 Syracuse.

“Everyone around me makes my job really easy when they get open,” Ward said. “It’s just filling your role and knowing what to do and when to do it.”

From there, SU would score the next eight goals, keeping the clock running for the rest of the game. That meant the offense slowed down, but the defense just got better.

Midway through the second quarter, UAlbany continued to struggle to get the ball inside successfully. Another bobble on the perimeter led to a blocked pass by Sierra Cockerille, who jumped a halfhearted feed from UAlbany’s Katie Pascale at the top of the key. With the shot clock at seven, SU fouled Shonly Wallace and her free-position shot went in off the right post.

The Great Danes got the rebound, but they couldn’t convert. Pascale got the ball back on the left wing, but was immediately doubled by Meaghan and Bianca Chevarie. Seeing this, Pascale tried to spin out, but ran into Chevarie and dropped the ball and SU took possession.

When a shot did penetrate the SU defense, goalie Delaney Sweitzer served as a stout final wall of defense. She earned six saves with a .750 shot percentage, eclipsing her season average with ease.

Shortly after the turnover by Pascale, Albany took possession again. Wallace sprinted laterally across the formation, left to right, and sent a sidearm shot off the turf. But when it bounced up, Sweitzer fell to her knees to smother it.

Once the game got out of hand, Syracuse’s Gracie Britton notched her first goal of the season in garbage time. Adamson dodged through the middle but was blocked off by two defenders at the 8-meter wing. She spun out of the double and charged down the left seam, seeing Britton mirroring her on the other seam. Adamson dumped it off and Britton swiped down on the pass to give SU a 21-3 lead.

Despite SU’s domination on the stat sheet, second-chance points were a huge part of Syracuse’s offense, something it hasn’t needed in its other blowout victories. But nonetheless, SU pulled out a stress-free win in which it never trailed.

Up three in the first, Mashewske tipped the draw to herself and took a few steps forward before initiating the transition offense with a pass to Emma. Emma passed to Natalie Smith in the middle, who couldn’t corral the feed and a ground ball ensued. Mackenzie Salentre had a clear path to collect it, but she bobbled and Meaghan stole it right from under her.

Outside the 12-meter, Meaghan turned and fired to a crashing Carney after everyone had assumed possession would switch. Carney slammed it home from point-blank range to give Syracuse a 5-1 lead.

Syracuse averaged the most assists per game in the nation (11.3) coming into the contest but blew that average out of the water with 17 against the Great Danes.

“We focused on ball movement and a free-flow offense this week,” said Carney, who had five goals and a season-high seven points. “We can all handle the ball and move the ball so well, and also just building that chemistry, we know where people are going to be.”

Published on March 1, 2023 at 6:20 pm

Contact Wyatt: wbmiller@syr.edu