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Syracuse women’s lacrosse has dominated conference play in 2024. Despite starting the season at a .500 mark through their first six games, the Orange have had little trouble against Atlantic Coast Conference opponents.

First, it was a road upset versus then-No. 2 Notre Dame. Then dominant wins over unranked Duke and Virginia Tech followed. But after starting 3-0 against conference foes, a three-game stretch including then-No. 9 North Carolina and then-No. 9 Virginia with UAlbany squeezed in between. SU handled the stretch with poise, defeating UNC by 15 before a one-goal road win over UVA.

After defeating No. 7 Loyola Wednesday, Syracuse faced Louisville in its final regular season game at the JMA Wireless Dome this season. Against the Cardinals, the Orange stayed unbeaten in ACC play. Despite eight first-quarter turnovers, the Orange used a 13-5 advantage in the second half to cruise to victory.

Here are some observations from No. 5 Syracuse’s (9-3, 6-0 ACC) 22-12 win over Louisville (6-7, 2-4 ACC):

Sloppy start

Following a fairly clean game against No. 7 Loyola Wednesday — where it turned the ball over eight fewer times than their opponent — the Orange began Saturday’s contest with a flurry of mistakes.

SU was steady on the draw, winning six of the first eight to start, but failed to muster any offense due to lack of possession. First, it was a turnover by Maddy Baxter in the offensive zone on a missed pass. Then, on attempted clears out of the defensive zone, Hallie Simkins missed the mark.

Back in the offensive zone, Payton Rowley, Natalie Smith and Olivia Adamson committed turnovers, thwarting multiple threats. With the score tied 4-4 and Syracuse not finding the back of the net in over five minutes, Emma Ward attempted to find Baxter in a tight window inside but misfired, giving Syracuse its seventh turnover of the opening quarter. Rowley, Simkins and Baxter all committed two a piece by the end of the first 15 minutes.

Louisville capitalized on SU’s early blunders with multiple answers, as the game was tied 4-4 for the majority of the quarter. Among Syracuse’s eight first-quarter turnovers, just one was caused as Kokoro Nakazawa recorded the caused turnover. Though the Orange committed eight turnovers in the opening frame, the attack settled in through the final minutes and ended on a 2-0 run — taking a 6-4 lead into the first break.

Draw bounceback

The draw circle has been a place of mixed results for the Orange in 2024. In Kate Mashewske’s return from a season-ending injury a year ago, she had great performances against UAlbany and Loyola, leading the team to a 13-6 and 11-6 deficit at halftime in the circle.

She’s also had great performances like a season-high 18 controls versus UVA a week ago. Versus Louisville — a team that won just 50.4% of its draws entering Saturday’s contest — Mashewske quickly found her footing.

The graduate student entered the conference matchup just 16 draw controls away from breaking the program’s all-time record in draws. The mark — 439 — was set by Kailah Kempney when she played for the Orange from 2012-15.

Against the Cardinals, Mashewske started on fire, winning seven draws in the first quarter and leading the Orange to win 9-of-11 to begin the game. Though the Cardinals rallied in the second winning 3-of-6, Mashewske remained dominant in the circle throughout the game, using the wings of Katie Goodale, Smith and Adamson to hold a 12-5 advantage at halftime. Mashewske finished with 16 in the game, breaking Kempney’s all-record.

Mashewske’s dominance led Louisville head coach Scott Teeter to call for the referees to check her stick in the third quarter. After the review, Mashewske’s stick was approved. She led the Orange to a 24-of-36 mark, a large switch from their 19-12 disadvantage just three days earlier.

Shutting down Nakazawa

Through Louisville’s 12 prior games, the Nakazawa sisters, Kokoro and Negai have been key contributors to the attacking unit. Negai has tallied 21 goals but Kokoro has overshadowed her with a team-leading 38 goals and 57 points.

Though, the Orange’s defense made it a point through their games to shut down the top attack on each team they face. Chase Boyle provided an outlier for Loyola when she scored six goals. But in recent games, Syracuse has held stars like UVA’s Morgan Schwab and UNC’s Ashley Humphrey to one point.

Saturday versus the Cardinals was no different. The Japanese natives were limited throughout the afternoon with SU’s zone defense swallowing them up with every opportunity. Kokoro often circled around the 12-meter perimeter before going to her comfortable spot along the right corner.

But Goodale made the spot uncomfortable for Kokoro. Using her speed, the senior pushed Kokora off the ball often. When she attempted to cut through the middle, Goodale covered the ground with ease, fronting U-of-L’s weapon before the SU’s next zone defender covered the needed ground.

With Kokoro held at bay, Syracuse held Louisville scoreless from the 5:23 mark in the second quarter to the 6:57 mark in the third, a nearly 13-minute window. Syracuse tallied four goals of its own in the sequence, ballooning its lead from 8-7 to 12-7. Kokoro finished with three goals, but two came with the game far out of reach in the fourth quarter.

Emmas build strong 2nd half

Versus Loyola, Emma Tyrrell and Ward had their best combined performance of the season, scoring 10 goals and 12 points between the two. But against Louisville, the Emmas were partially limited early on. Ward tallied a goal and an assist while Tyrrell didn’t record a point.

Because of its depth, the Orange stayed strong offensively. Savannah Sweitzer and Adamson each tallied two in the half. SU led 9-7 at halftime.

But in the third quarter, Tyrrell broke out back to her typical production. Tyrrell beat U-of-L goalie Sara Addeche early in the quarter for her first goal. To close the quarter, Tyrrell took a feed from Adamson and went behind her back for a nifty finish. To start the fourth, Tyrrell beat Addeche low for the hat trick before a fourth goal trickled in minutes of later.

Out of nowhere Tyrrell had a game-high five goals and built the Orange lead to as large as 12. Ward and Tyrrell finished with a combined seven goals on nine points after a quiet first half.

Published on March 30, 2024 at 2:46 pm

Contact Aiden at: amstepan@syr.edu | @AidenStepansky