18-minute scoring drought hinders SU in loss to Yale
Syracuse allowed a 3-0 Yale run in an 18-minute span in the second and third quarters, leading to its 13-10 loss to the Bulldogs. Courtesy of Yale Athletics
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When Syracuse rattled off four goals to close the first quarter of its nonconference finale against Yale, it had reasons for optimism heading into the second.
The Orange had been utterly dominated in every facet of the game. They couldn’t win a draw control. Their primary defensive strategy, face-guarding Bulldogs’ leading scorer Jenna Collignon, only opened up more opportunities for Yale’s secondary options, Fallon Vaughn and Taylor Lane. And they’d been outshot 12-5 in the frame.
But somehow, the game was still tied. It was anyone’s ballgame, and the momentum was all in SU’s favor. Syracuse had played about as badly as it could in a quarter, and it still wasn’t losing, aided by Yale goalie Cami Donadio’s consistent struggles.
Yet after Donadio was pulled for freshman Niamh Pfaff, all of Syracuse’s momentum evaporated. Following Ashlee Volpe’s tally with 10 minutes left in the first half, No. 6 SU (8-5, 4-2 Atlantic Coast) went on an 18-minute scoring drought, leading to its 13-10 loss to No. 13 Yale (8-3, 1-2 Ivy League) Wednesday. In that span, it conceded three goals, allowing the Bulldogs to build a comfortable lead.
“I think our defense can pick up patterns pretty quickly,” Yale head coach Erica Bamford said postgame. “They try to predict what an offense is going to do.”
The Bulldogs started the second quarter with a free-position goal from Sky Carrasquillo, securing an early 5-4 lead. Then, Volpe’s aforementioned goal knotted the game at 5-5, giving SU the chance to claim its first lead of the contest.
However, Collignon won the ensuing draw control, and the Bulldogs drew a shooting space foul on SU defender Superia Clark soon after. As Caroline Burt took the free-position attempt, she passed the ball to Vaughn, whose shot whizzed past Daniella Guyette to give Yale the 6-5 advantage.
After that, Syracuse had another chance to earn possession on a draw. But Meghan Rode, who replaced Joely Caramelli in the first quarter, failed to capitalize again, this time facing Lane.
Just one minute after Vaughn’s shot gave Yale the lead, Lane padded it with a tally of her own. Collignon had been face-guarded by Clark from the game’s inception, but once Vaughn notched a first-half hat trick with her tally, she began to receive the same defensive attention.
This development forced Syracuse to play a five-on-five defensive set. Burt found Lane at the top of the 12-meter fan, then she shimmied into the 8-meter arc and fired a shot past Guyette to make it 7-5.
“We do a lot of that anyway, five-on-five sets and things like that,” Bamford said. “So, we just essentially played the drills that we’ve been running for years now.”
Yet again, Syracuse had the opportunity to earn a possession with a win on the draw control. But its woes only continued.
Rode lost another draw to Collignon, and the Bulldogs took advantage with a shot on goal from Kelly Holmes. But this time, Guyette saved it, and Syracuse finally cleared the ball with seven minutes left in the half.
On the ensuing possession, Caroline Trinkaus nearly broke the drought, weaving through defenders and getting a shot off on Yale’s stout defense. But Pfaff stopped it with ease, and the possession ended with a turnover from Emma Ward.
“I think (our defense) shifts well together,” Bamford said. “They just have built chemistry through practices for a couple of years, and it’s stayed the same for the most part.”
Until two seconds remained in the first half, neither side did anything of consequence. But with 13 seconds left, Vaughn’s turnover allowed Guyette to clear the ball to Sam DeVito. DeVito then found Clark, who passed it forward to Volpe. Volpe, in turn, passed it laterally to Emma Muchnick, who muscled her way into the 8-meter arc and drew a foul.
Muchnick decided how the half ended. Coming into Wednesday, she led the Orange with eight free-position goals on the year, and she could’ve cut their deficit to one by adding another to close the half. But she didn’t. Her ensuing shot was swatted away by Pfaff, and SU remained down 7-5 at the break.
“If players, attackers are planning for one goalie, we can kind of switch it up,” Bamford said. “It just was giving the Syracuse shooters, who are really good shooters and high percentage shooters, a different look.”
It’s not difficult to predict how the second half began. Rode lost a draw control, this time to Katie Clare, and Vaughn capitalized immediately with her fourth goal of the game.
Syracuse opted to switch to a zone defense to open the second half, abandoning its plan to face-guard Vaughn and Collignon. The Bulldogs passed the ball around the arc, then found Vaughn cutting into the middle to make it 8-5.
The Orange won the ensuing draw control, but only due to an offsides penalty on Yale. Syracuse, desperately searching for a response, fired two more shots on net in a two-minute span, but both were deflected away by Pfaff.
By the time Muchnick broke the drought with a player-up goal, Syracuse’s offensive momentum had evaporated. They may have only been down two goals, but with how SU’s offense looked, it might as well have been 10.
“Obviously, with Syracuse having a really great offense, Emma Ward, anyone can score a goal on that team,” Bamford said. “We had a tall task ahead of us, and I’m really proud of how our defense played today.”
