The ball sailed 55 yards through the air and over the head of Tee Ladouceur, who fell forward onto the turf.

 

And with that, No. 9 Syracuse (12-5, 6-2 Big East) stumbled to No. 12 Georgetown (11-5, 8-0) 10-9 in front of 439 people in the Carrier Dome on Senior Day. SU fell in a tightly contested game, losing its quest for a fourth consecutive Big East regular-season title. As a result, the loss pinned the Orange as the No. 3 seed in the Big East tournament.

 

The Orange jumped out to an early 4-1 lead in the second half after junior attack Ladouceur netted her first goal of the contest. Georgetown used a three-goal run to tie the game. Neither team would lead by more than three goals throughout the entire game.

 

But down the stretch, SU would struggle to score goals against Georgetown keeper Caitlin Formby. Sporadic chances sailed high, wide and found the post.

 

‘Some days the pressure maybe gets to them a little bit, but it’s certainly not from a lack of opportunities,’ Syracuse head coach Gary Gait said. ‘Normally we would have 15 goals on 30 shots, and today we didn’t get it done. We had some great looks, and it’s just a tough day for the guys finishing on offense.’

 

The Orange ended up in a situation it had seen throughout the season — locked in a close game with a ranked opponent. This time not finishing cost Syracuse the No.1 seed in the Big East tournament. 

 

And for the fourth time this season, the Orange fell by a one-goal margin. The result has been seen all too often for SU players.

 

‘I think we’re there. I think everyone is so pissed off at this point,’ senior defender Eileen Finn said. ‘One-goal losses — I mean, a loss is a loss, but one-goal losses, I mean, it just pisses you off.’

 

With Georgetown leading 8-7, the urgency for the Orange was evident. Senior Halley Quillinan rang the ball off the crossbar. Jackie DePetris was called for a foul, and a comment from Ladouceur to the referee earned a yellow card, putting SU a man down.

 

Georgetown used the misconduct penalty and a stick to the head penalty on freshman attack Michelle Tumolo to extend the Hoyas’ lead to 10-7.

 

Ladouceur used a spirited effort to keep the game close. She used a crafty behind-the-back goal to inch the Orange closer, but a unique style of defense deployed by the Hoyas stymied SU for the rest of the half. Formby was at the forefront of the Hoyas’ defensive success.

 

‘Offensively, we need to stay composed a little bit more,’ Ladouceur said. ‘This goalie, she’s a lefty, but that’s no excuse. You have to do a little hitch move around her and find the back of the net and not look at the goalie.’

 

Ladouceur was one of the few players for the Orange who was able to find success against the Georgetown defense. Ladouceur had four goals and three assists in the losing effort. Senior Christina Dove had three goals and two assists, but other SU seniors were held to minimal contributions in their final regular-season game in the Carrier Dome.

 

The effort was there, but the chances just did not find the back of the net. The Orange continuously attempted to fight back but was never quite able to overcome the three-goal deficit. SU is 1-2 on the season when it struggles to score in double digits.

 

Heading into the postseason, that will have to change if Syracuse hopes to make a deep run.

 

‘It’s a whole team game and if the (offense) is not producing, we need to step it up on defense,’ Finn said. ‘We’re not going to point fingers at anyone. It’s a team game. We win as a team and lose as a team.’