WLAX : Free-position shots crucial for Syracuse against Notre Dame
Gary Gait blew his whistle again and again.
With his players standing in three lines facing the goal – two groups of defenders surrounding the attacks – the Syracuse head coach’s high-pitched screeches echoed through the empty Carrier Dome at practice Tuesday.
But Michelle Tumolo, who held the ball in her stick, did not budge. The two defenders flanking her, Janelle Stegeland and Jill Cammett, and goaltender Alyssa Costantino didn’t either.
Not until a lower-pitched whistle came from assistant coach Regy Thorpe, indicating the start of the free-position attempt, did Tumolo break toward the net as a part of a drill that SU hopes will pay dividends through the second half of the season.
‘I think that drill obviously is a great drill for offense,’ said Stegeland, a senior defender. ‘We want to be our highest percentage on those free-position shots. But I think it also is working the defense, obviously getting off the line and working together, as well as the goalies.’
Limiting and defending free-position shots have been points of emphasis for Gait this season, particularly in the last few weeks. That extra practice time the No. 3 Orange (6-2, 1-0 Big East) has devoted to it will be put to its biggest test so far against No. 6 Notre Dame (8-1, 2-1) Thursday at 7 p.m. in Notre Dame, Ind.
The drill, one that Gait has utilized throughout the season, teaches the players involved in the play to increase their focus by blocking out surrounding noise.
The Orange has held its last three opponents – No. 19 Towson, Connecticut and Harvard – to only a combined 13 free-position attempts. And SU has only allowed three scores off of those opportunities.
‘I think that we really worked on not giving the players a second chance,’ Stegeland said. ‘By giving them that ball we gave them a second chance. So we kind of worked on our core fundamentals, our footwork, getting our body first, swinging sticks.
‘… And I think it’s helped that we’ve really just worked on staying disciplined, without using our sticks.’
But none of the teams SU has played in recent weeks are of the caliber of the nationally contending Fighting Irish. In fact, Thursday starts a stretch in which the Orange will play three games in five days as it hosts Rutgers on Saturday and plays against No. 6 Dartmouth on Monday.
The key to keeping these more potent opposing offenses off the eight-meter mark is staying in front of the attacks, Gait said.
‘We always talk about ‘slide, but slide not to foul,” Gait said. ‘Don’t bail out the offensive player when you slide to foul. Don’t give them a free shot. It’s certainly been a focus point of ours. They’re getting a little more comfortable, and they’re getting better at it.’
Stegeland and Cammett, as well as twin defenders Becca and Linley Block, have led SU’s stout defensive effort this season.
Against No. 1 Northwestern on Feb. 29, the Orange defense held the Wildcats to just nine first-half shots, but a pair of goals on free-position attempts kept SU from pulling away.
The Orange eventually fell 11-9 in overtime.
‘We know we can play them, play with them, and I think we can beat them in the future,’ midfielder Katie Webster said after the Northwestern game.
The SU defense proceeded to frustrate two of the most dangerous scorers in the nation: No. 4 Florida attack Kitty Cullen, who went 1-of-10 shooting on March 3, and No. 5 Maryland midfielder Katie Schwarzman, who went to 2-of-10, a week later in College Park, Md.
But by fouling, and allowing seven goals on 14 free-position attempts, Syracuse allowed both the Gators and Terrapins to stay in contention.
‘When we saw that we were playing great defense but still getting fouls, which they were scoring off of at the beginning of the season, we kind of just adjusted as a group together,’ Stegeland said. ‘We realized, ‘OK, we’re fouling too much. We can’t have this be happening.”
And in the last three games, it hasn’t.
But Notre Dame and Dartmouth are in the same echelon as Florida, Maryland and Northwestern. And Gait is excited to see how his team handles the challenge.
‘All of what we’ve done up until now has been important in getting ready for this run,’ Gait said. ‘Not many teams can go through a run like this with two top-10 teams in five days and three games in five days.
‘I’m looking forward to it.’
