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It’s been 257 days since Syracuse’s 16-10 loss to Boston College in the national championship game, a game that first-year SU head coach — but then-BC assistant — Kayla Treanor says felt “like 10 years ago.” She joined an Orange team with a “brand new focus,” she said.

In the first game of the Treanor era, Syracuse defeated Stanford by three, fueled by Meaghan Tyrrell on the attack. Returning from ACL tears, Emily Hawryschuk and Megan Carney were silenced, only combining for two goals, and SU’s defense struggled early before improving over the course of the game.

Here are some observations from Syracuse’s (1-0) 12-9 victory over Stanford (0-1):

Delaney Sweitzer starts, Hower replaces

On Tuesday, Treanor said Syracuse was still determining its No. 1 goalkeeper after Asa Goldstock’s graduation. On Friday, Treanor went with Delaney Sweitzer, who played in three games last year at Southern California.

After Syracuse jumped out to an early lead just 50 seconds in, Stanford responded two minutes later. The Cardinal weaved the ball around, catching Syracuse’s defense off guard, and leaving Caitlin Chicoski unattended just in front of the right side of the goal circle, allowing her to place the ball right past Sweitzer.

Similarly, on the Cardinal’s next goal, Ashley Humphrey had possession behind the net, jogging from the right side to left, before throwing a short cross-field pass above the goal to a wide-open Sarah Jaques, who scored an easy goal from the same spot Chicoski scored the goal before. Two goals later, Ailish Kelly received a pass from Humphrey and then whipped a behind-the-back shot into the goal, putting Stanford up 4-3. At the end of the first quarter, Sweitzer had zero saves and had let four goals past her.

UNC transfer Kimber Hower started in the net to start the second half. On the goal-scoring opportunities Stanford had in the third period, Hower made big saves. Though one Stanford goal was overturned, she made saves on the two shots the Cardinal had on goal — both right near the goal circle — giving her a perfect save percentage in the period. Hower finished with five saves and a .625 save percentage, only conceding three goals compared to Sweitzer’s six.

Tyrrell sisters lead SU attack

Meaghan, Syracuse’s 2021 leader in points, continued her success after carrying much of SU’s offensive load last season. After being held scoreless in the first period, Meaghan responded with a much stronger second period.

Five minutes into the second quarter, Meaghan scored an unassisted goal from the right side of the field, cutting Stanford’s lead to 5-4. Two minutes later, Meaghan notched another unassisted goal, this time on a low-rolling shot to tie the game at five. Then, SU jumped back into the lead for the first time since they led 1-0 with a connection from the Tyrrell sisters.

Emma Tyrrell was just inside the 12-meter semicircle and saw her older sister cutting across the goal. She launched a quick pass to Meaghan in stride, who placed it with ease into the back of the net, giving Meaghan a hat trick in the second period. Just one minute into the second half, Emma regained the lead for the Orange with a goal coming off of a Sam Swart assist, notching her second goal of the game after the first came in the first period.

Later in the third quarter, Meaghan received a pass from Maddy Baxter and notched her fourth goal of the game in the same fashion she scored the first, extending the Orange’s lead to two, its largest at that point. Then, to secure her double hat trick, the Orange quickly transitioned from defense to the attack, resulting in three pass sequence from Emma to Hawryschuk to Carney to Meaghan, who then put away the easy goal, giving the Orange a 10-7 lead. Meaghan finished with a team-high six goals.

First-half defense struggles

With two minutes left in the second period, the Orange were called for a shooting space penalty, giving Stanford another free position opportunity. The Cardinal reset the ball to the top of the 12-meter fan. Galen Lew received the ball just inside the right side of the fan wide-open, and she took a few steps toward goal, passed to a cutting Annabel Frist who was in an easy position to shoot right past Sweitzer. Sweitzer didn’t have a chance to save the shot and Lew scored her second goal of the game, tying the game at six.

In the first period, though, Sweitzer struggled. Stanford moved the ball around, mostly focusing on getting the ball behind the goal while its attackers developed their motions and sets through cuts across the field. It got the Orange out of position and the Cardinal in prime position for easy goals, as none of the Cardinal first-half goals came from outside five meters of Sweitzer’s net.

But in the second half, the defense significantly improved. With the help of Hower, the Orange limited the Cardinal to just two second-half goals through almost 25 minutes of play. SU prevented the passes to the cutters that got Stanford the easy goals in the first half, even forcing six Cardinal turnovers in the third period.

Orange dominate draw

Kate Mashewske won the opening draw, even forcing a foul on the Cardinal on one. On the subsequent possession, Syracuse got itself on the scoreboard just 50 seconds in from an Olivia Adamson goal.

Sierra Cockerille won the following draw, setting up a shot opportunity that was ultimately saved by Stanford’s Kara Rahaim. In the first period, the Orange won the draw control battle 7-1, giving the Orange more opportunities for its attack. By the end of the game, the Orange won the draw control battle 14-9.

Published on February 11, 2022 at 8:34 pm

Contact Cole: colebambini@gmail.com | @ColeBambini