Defenses dominate in Syracuse-Maryland women's matchup: 'Some of the best we're gonna see in our sport'

Source: Oneida Dispatch

Syracuse, N.Y. -- In the final four minutes of regulation of Syracuse women's lacrosse's Top 10 matchup with Maryland, Orange goalie Delaney Sweitzer made three saves -- almost a third of her total for the game.

The score was tied 8-8 at that point, and with SU's last goal having come over five minutes before, Sweitzer was doing everything she could to keep the Terrapins from sealing the game.

She did so successfully, but Maryland kept coming in overtime. Hannah Leubecker snuck a goal past Sweitzer, who dove left as Leubecker's shot struck to her right, for the Maryland win.

"We held 'em off for as long as we could and at the end of the day, they worked hard for that," Sweitzer said.

Syracuse's double-overtime loss to Maryland on Saturday afternoon was a defensive battle that featured two lengthy scoring droughts and saw both teams finish below 10 goals. The final score was 9-8, Terrapins.

Sweitzer and Maryland goalie Emily Sterling combined for 19 saves in the game. Sweitzer had a 52.6% save percentage; Sweitzer finished at 52.9%.

Both offenses finished with under 30 total shots and under 20 on goal.

SU head coach Kayla Treanor and Maryland coach Cathy Reese each lauded Sweitzer's and Sterling's play postgame.

"I think Emily and Delaney are two of the best goalies in the country," Reese said. "That part of the game is some of the best we're gonna see in our sport this season."

Reese said her squad's defensive success came from sticking to its plan for how to attack the Orange offense, which was Top 25 in scoring and Top 10 in shot percentage entering the game, and being consistent.

Leubecker said Maryland's scout defense gave her side of the ball plenty of good reps in practice this week.

The way Maryland defended Syracuse differed from what the Orange had seen on tape from the Terrapins' first game against St. Joseph's, specifically in the way they slid to match SU's offense.

The technique wasn't new, Treanor said. The Orange has seen it from other teams.

It forced a lot of adjustments coming out of the first period, which finished 3-1 in Maryland's favor, but even after Syracuse's offense couldn't find a rhythm against the Terps. It shot 33.3% in the game, its worst mark yet this season.

One of the most damning missed opportunities for Syracuse was a shot clock violation on its last possession of regulation. Attacker Olivia Adamson, who led Syracuse in scoring with two goals and one assist, admitted it was a result of simply not paying close enough attention to the time.

SU had just one shot in overtime, taken by Emma Ward and saved by Sterling.

Though the Orange defense staved off the Terps on their possession to force a second overtime period, it was less than 30 seconds into that second frame that Leubecker closed things out.

Maryland was man-up at the time after a green card against SU.

"We had so many opportunities to win that game and we ultimately didn't make the plays we needed to in order to win it," Treanor said. "It was really back and forth. It's a great college lacrosse game for sure. I thought both defenses played really well... But ultimately we really needed to make plays at the end."

Syracuse could jump into the Top 50 for scoring defense pending results of other games this weekend, bumping its goals-per-game average from 12.5 to 11.

It will face a difficult test against Notre Dame, the No. 2 scoring offense in the country currently, next weekend. Maryland's offense was No. 22 entering Saturday.

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