The Syracuse Orange’s season ended in crushing disappointment after a second half collapse sent them into the offseason with their 11-10 overtime loss to Navy in the NCAA Tournament Second Round on Sunday afternoon at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium.
The Orange played an outstanding first half that saw their offense erupt into a 9-3 halftime lead. They still held a six-goal lead more than 10 minutes into the third quarter, but were ultimately out-scored 8-1 after halftime, including surrendering
the final seven goals of the game.
A Syracuse goal with 3:34 on the clock in the third quarter gave the Orange a 10-4 advantage with only about 18 and a half minutes between them and the quarterfinals.
But that would be the last goal ‘Cuse scored, as Navy slowly built a wave of momentum that ultimately engulfed SU and turned a 10-4 lead into an 11-10 defeat without the Orange even touching the ball in overtime.
It started off so promisingly, as the Orange went through a stretch where they scored nine of 10 goals in the first half with the offense dodging and passing their way into space and looking as good as they’ve looked the entire season. They scored on nine of the 10 shots they put on goal and looked and felt unstoppable as they generated chances and cashed almost every one of them in.
Caroline Trinkaus led the charge, scoring four of those first half goals and finishing with six points for the game. Molly Guzik got back to her goal-scoring ways with a hat trick. Mackenzie Rich had three points on a goal and two assists, and Emma Muchnick had one of each.
But Navy made a few key adjustments that the Orange had no answers for, and the offense went into hibernation as the Midshipmen’s comeback initiated the slow-motion collapse of a season.
After SU took a 9-3 lead with four minutes left in the first half, the Mids made a goalie switch, after which ‘Cuse only scored once more. But more important was their switch to mixing more zone into their defensive scheme as a way of closing off the seams and lanes the Orange were finding so easily in the first half.
The defense had another typical day of causing turnovers with 14 (20 total for Navy), and Dan Guyette was great in net with 10 saves. But after a first half of holding Navy’s high-scoring offense to three goals, they got worn down from having to play too much and the host team took advantage.
After a relatively even first half at the draw circle (7-6 Navy), the Mids won seven of the 10 draws after halftime. Couple that with 13 second-half turnovers from ‘Cuse (23 for the game), and the Orange defense had to be on-call for the majority of the second half. They got beaten down over the course of those 30+ minutes, and it all came crashing down on them.
After holding Tewaaraton finalist Alyssa Chung to a single assist in the first half, she scored four of the final seven goals of the game, including the game-winner as the best player on the field eventually helped win the day for her team.
Coco Vandiver finished her amazing Syracuse career with two more caused turnovers to add to her program record, along with two ground balls, and Izzy Lahah added three more CTs to her incredible, record-breaking season.
The Orange finish the season at 14-6 with their second straight exit in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
