MLAX : Orange’s Big East win streak ends in loss to Villanova; Harris a force at both ends of field
Syracuse entered its game against Villanova undefeated in Big East play. The Orange had come out on top in all 14 of its previous conference games.
That streak came to end Sunday when SU lost 11-10 to the Wildcats, a struggling team who had lost three of its previous four games.
For Syracuse, the loss marks a departure from its dominant past. For Villanova, it serves as the biggest win in the program’s history.
‘To beat a team like Syracuse at the Carrier Dome is about as big a win as we’ve had in our program,’ Villanova head coach Michael Corrado said. ‘Considering the way we’ve lost our last two games, to come up here and do what we did, I’m extremely proud of our guys. They just never gave up today, and it was just a great performance by them.’
Like most Big East opponents, Villanova has had little luck against the lacrosse powerhouse Syracuse in recent years. The Orange has outscored the Wildcats 65-24 in their previous four matchups, with the closest loss coming last year when Villanova fell 5-4.
The Wildcats finally got over the hump with the win, helping ease the painful memories of a 21-6 loss in 2008 and 20-6 blowout in 2010. The veterans on this Villanova team remembered those embarrassing defeats coming into this game, and Corrado said they talked about them during last week’s preparation.
SU head coach John Desko and the Orange, meanwhile, will be challenged to get back on track. This year’s inexperienced group is struggling, and the road doesn’t get any easier. Syracuse goes to MetLife Stadium to face Duke next Sunday.
‘We just have to roll up our sleeves and keep going,’ Desko said. ‘We’re going to break down the film, show them what we did right and wrong today on the film so the guys can see the mistakes.’
Harris displays versatility with impressive performance
Matt Harris was all over the field Sunday. The Syracuse defender lined up on the wing on faceoffs. He matched up with Villanova’s leading scorer Jack Rice defensively. And he even got involved on the offensive end on multiple occasions.
‘I thought Matt Harris, really we asked a lot of him today because he had to cover (Rice),’ Desko said, ‘which is a big job in itself because really you always have to know where he is and you always have to put yourself between the man and the ball.’
Harris was up to the task against the Wildcats, finishing his day with an impressive all-around stat line. The sophomore picked up three ground balls, forced two turnovers and scored his first goal of the season in Syracuse’s 11-10 loss to the Wildcats at the Carrier Dome.
Though Harris let Rice get free for two goals in the game, he did an admirable job on Villanova’s top scorer.
Rice’s first goal knotted the game at two in the first period, and Harris was clearly disappointed, raising his stick in the air after the goal as his teammates watched the replay. On the second, he just missed tipping a pass intended for Rice but whiffed, and the Wildcats attack capitalized in the third period.
Harris did some damage of his own on offense to make up for those mistakes. The defender scored a transition to put the Orange up 2-1. Harris worked his way down field and stood wide open from about 15 yards out.
He took the pass, dropped his stick down and released a low shot that snuck by Villanova goaltender Dan Gutierrez.
That goal, coupled with his physical presence on faceoffs and defense made for a standout game for Harris despite the loss.
‘We’re asking a lot to take all those faceoffs, go down and cover No. 2 (Rice) and they do a good job with their picking,’ Desko said.
Syracuse fails to capitalize on extra-man opportunities
At this point, Desko is bothered by what he’s seen from his team in man-up situations.
After Syracuse failed to run the proper play, or even get a shot off in its first two man-up situations against Villanova, the team’s woes have become particularly frustrating for the Orange head coach.
‘We worked on it Thursday, Friday, walked through it on Saturday and to not run the play the first two times was really pretty frustrating,’ Desko said. ‘Then we did get to it and got shots off, but we shot those like we shot in the game.’
Even an added emphasis on the man-up situations in practice has not yielded results for SU. The Orange turned in yet another ugly performance with a man advantage going 0-of-5 in its man-up opportunities Sunday.
Syracuse has now scored just three goals on its 17 opportunities over its last three games.
Despite five separate 30-second calls against the Wildcats, the Orange failed to push a goal through. After the Orange struggled to muster a shot on its first two opportunities, things got a little bit better with two shots over its next three, but the result was all the same.
And Desko is still seeking rapid improvement from his team in upcoming games despite its recent struggles in its man-up opportunities.
