Early mistakes cost Syracuse in Final Four loss to Maryland
After Syracuse opened the scoring in Saturday's 14-8 Final Four loss, Maryland responded with an 8-0 run to pull ahead and never looked back. Jacob Halsema | Staff Photographer
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FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — If there’s one team in the country that doesn’t beat itself, it’s Maryland. Syracuse knows that, or at least it should by now. There’s been no team better at completely nullifying the Orange over the past decade. John Tillman hasn’t lost to them since arriving at College Park in 2011.
Each game follows the same blueprint. Syracuse tries to play its free-flowing form of offense filled with finesse and creativity. It’s a formula that works against most teams. Not Maryland. The Terrapins always bring SU to a screeching halt. Their brute force tactics and ability not to beat themselves have stymied Syracuse over the past decade.
That was evident when then-No. 2 SU fell 11-7 on the road earlier this season. Heading into a rematch at the Final Four — Syracuse’s first since 2013 — things were supposed to be different. The Orange seemingly had learned from their previous shortcomings. Gait said tweaks were implemented, which in turn would help SU move on to the National Championship. At least that was the plan.
All that ended up being for naught.
“Unfortunately, we came in and played the first half like it was the first time we’ve been here in 12 years,” Gait said.
It was a brutal, yet correct assessment of his squad. For all the strides Syracuse (13-6, 2-2 Atlantic Coast) made this season — a first ACC Tournament title since 2016 and first Final Four since 2013 — the Orange still didn’t learn their lesson. They made too many mistakes against No. 2 seed Maryland (14-3, 3-2 Big Ten) and paid the price, falling 14-8 at Gillette Stadium. SU dug itself a hole, caused by an 8-0 Terrapins run in the first half it couldn’t counter. Syracuse may have only turned it over 10 times, but UMD pounced on each giveaway.
Every miscue is magnified against Maryland and subsequently punished. Lazy passes are easily picked off, holding onto the ball leads to giveaways and the slightest mistimed slide can end in a goal. Doing anything of the above leaves can be problematic against any team. These miscues don’t always go unpunished, but against Maryland, they will.
The Terrapins don’t pull any punches. They’re not going to hesitate when presented with these chances. It’s in the program’s DNA. There’s a reason why they have made 11 of the last 14 Championship Weekends. They often hold the ball for large portions of the shot clock, pack it in defensively and use a slow, methodical style. It’s not the most attractive brand of lacrosse, but it’s the most effective.
“They know how to play in these games, and they know how to strangle you when you’re down,” SU midfielder Sam English said of Maryland. “They know how to win, and they know how to step on your throat when they have it.”
That couldn’t have been clearer Saturday. Syracuse jumped out to a 1-0 lead within a minute when Owen Hiltz fired a low shot past Logan McNaney. A fast start against Maryland was key since it can grind teams to a halt with its top-rated defense in the country. An early advantage allowed the Terrapins to implement their style.
Hiltz’s goal was a step in the right direction for Syracuse to avoid a bad start. Though from there, everything went wrong. SU didn’t score for the next 27 minutes in a mistake-laden stretch that became the deciding factor.
The first error came when Maryland attack Eric Spanos — guarded by Billy Dwan III — received a screen at X from Zach Whittier. English tracked Whittier, but didn’t communicate properly with Dwan. The two ended up running into each other, leaving Spanos with an easy finish to make the duo exchange puzzled looks at each other afterwards.
Later in the quarter, Jimmy McCool denied Daniel Kelly and meandered his way upfield after no passing options appeared. McCool advanced over the half-field line, still looking for help, drifting toward the sideline. His adventure came to an end when Geordy Holmes forced him out of bounds.
Maryland’s ensuing possession ended with Elijah Stobaugh putting Maryland up 2-1 with 3:20 left in the first quarter.
John Mullen got Syracuse the ball back on the next faceoff. While SU tried to set up its offense, Payton Anderson stepped across the midfield line too early, and SU was called offside. Eight seconds later, long pole AJ Larkin was firing the ball past McCool, increasing Maryland’s lead.
Three mistakes. Three goals. Syracuse never recovered, trailing by multiple goals the rest of the game.
“We didn’t get the ball out early on and we were hesitant,” Gait said of the turnovers. “They were able to get turnovers come right back down and really just take control of that ball and wait until they found good shots.”
Larkin’s howitzer was the perfect example of how Maryland operates. It’s not known to play fast, but if there’s a chance for early offense in transition, it doesn’t hesitate.
More mistakes filled Syracuse’s disastrous first half. Joey Spallina — who was held to a single point — threw the ball right to Holmes during a man-up opportunity. Aidan Aitken proceeded to score on the other end, making it 5-1.
Syracuse once again fell into the Maryland trap. The Orange played right into the Terrapins’ hands by constantly shooting themselves in the foot. As the miscues mounted, so did Maryland’s lead, falling behind 8-2 at halftime.
“We tried to flip the script and try to counteract those and make them make the mistakes, just trying to sit back on our fundamentals,” Larkin said. “Being patient was mainly our gameplan.”
In the first round, Syracuse faced the same deficit versus Harvard. SU played its worst half of the season. Twelve turnovers and poor execution overall put its season on the brink. However, the Orange battled back to pull off an improbable comeback.
With Syracuse’s explosive attack — which scored 19 goals in the quarterfinals against Princeton — a comeback is always on the cards.
But, Maryland’s a different beast. It wasn’t going to let Syracuse run riot in the second half. The lead ballooned to eight within four minutes. Even with Finn Thomson, Michael Leo and Luke Rhoa tallying three straight goals, the deficit was insurmountable.
Gait talked at length about the strides SU has made over the past few seasons, going from missing the NCAA Tournament to making it back to the Final Four. The progression is obvious.
Syracuse’s trip to Foxborough, the site of its last National Championship in 2009, had people dreaming of an 11th title.
Those dreams were dashed by Maryland, a team that simply has Syracuse’s number. It’ll continue until the Orange figure out how to stop getting in their own way.
“Today, we dug the hole a little too big, especially against a team that controls the ball and makes it really difficult to make a comeback on them,” Gait said.
