Just 11 seconds into the game, the Syracuse offense was playing from behind.

On a day when the Maryland attack put a 19 on the scoreboard, the daunting task of playing catch-up was too much for the Orange.

In Syracuse’s home opener Sunday, the Orange’s offense wasn’t enough to overcome the No. 4 Terrapins (2-0) in a 19-11 loss at the Carrier Dome. No. 1 SU (1-1) couldn’t repeat the offensive execution it demonstrated in its season opener, a 21-8 win at Jacksonville on Jan. 13.

The Orange received scoring from 11 different players in that victory, but only four players found the back of the net against Maryland. Alyssa Murray scored three goals, and Katie Webster and Kayla Treanor each recorded a pair of scores Sunday.

But the secondary scorers were nowhere to be seen. SU head coach Gary Gait said Wednesday he was confident his role players would step up if the Terps defense shut down the Orange’s best threats.

But that wasn’t exactly the case Sunday.

“Of course, I’d like a little bit more balance,” Gait said. “I think there were opportunities for some other players to score, and they didn’t have a lot of luck with it.”

Syracuse attack Michelle Tumolo recorded a hat trick at Maryland last year. She improved that tally by scoring four on Sunday, but her last two came in the final 13 minutes of the game, when the Orange already trailed by more than six goals.

The Orange was competitive in the first half. It never held the lead, but was only down by two goals going into the break.

But the Terps, who netted the final two goals of the half, came out with three straight goals to break the game open. A 9-2 run for Maryland from 3:33 in the first half to 14:31 in the second half put the game away.

While the SU defense wasn’t there to stop the bleeding, the attack wasn’t there to break the momentum, either.

The Orange’s attack couldn’t shake the Maryland defenders on its cuts. The Terps kept deflecting Tumolo’s passes to the front of the cage. She finished the game having committed six turnovers.

“Gary pulled me aside and told me I got to go to the goal more,” Tumolo said. “They stuck to the cutters well.”

But the issue wasn’t so much what Maryland’s defense was throwing at the Orange, Gait said. Syracuse didn’t help itself.

“I think it was just errors,” Gait said. “It wasn’t great decision-making on our part. We had opportunities where we could’ve dictated and I think we started second-guessing ourselves.”

Gait said his team didn’t play with confidence. Assistant coach Brett Queener said Wednesday that confidence was something the players should carry themselves with going into Sunday’s game, having upset the Terps in College Park, Md., a year ago.

That poise was nonexistent in the rematch.

There’s work to be done on the offensive drawing board, Gait said, but he isn’t agonizing over the lack of offensive execution.

“I think we need people to step up and take charge. We have 15 more regular season games to figure it out,” Gait said. “I think certainly all our players on the offensive end can be a threat to score and we need to utilize that.”

Published on February 18, 2013 at 1:19 am

Contact Phil: pmdabbra@syr.edu | @PhilDAbb