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Emma Tyrrell sprinted down the right side of the midfield with Loyola’s Livy Rosenzweig pressuring her. She was a step ahead on Rosenzweig, sending a pass to Olivia Adamson, who found Maddy Baxter inside the 8-meter for a hard shot to tie the game. 

Afterward, Emma went to the edge of the draw circle with just over a minute left in the first half. Syracuse’s Kate Mashewske took on Rosenzweig on the draw, and the ball flew out of the circle. Loyola’s Katie Detwiler batted the ground ball which gave Emma an opening to collect the draw control, setting up an Orange attack where Meaghan Tyrrell scored on a rebound. 

In the Orange’s 14-13 win over No. 6 Loyola, Emma led Syracuse in goals, assists, points and draw controls. It was the fifth game where she led SU in draw controls.

While Emma has emerged as Syracuse’s third-best scorer, she has taken on a bigger role in the draw circle. It was something she did while playing midfield and attack at Mt. Sinai (New York) High School. But at SU, Emma initially played a lesser role on the draw, one that has increased to her being a consistent second option behind the specialist Mashewske, who has struggled at various points this year. 

“(Emma) has done a great job for us,” head coach Kayla Treanor said. “It’s an X-factor for our team how great Emma is on the circle.”

Emma has been part of the top draw unit at Syracuse so far which includes her, Mashewske and defenseman Sarah Cooper. All three lead the Orange in draw controls, but Cooper plays a lesser role in the circle and Mashewske has had games where she will only get one draw control. Emma, on the other hand, has consistently recorded at least three draw controls in every game this year. In Syracuse’s overtime win over then-No. 17 Notre Dame, Emma led the Orange with a career-high nine draw wins along with leading the team in points. 

Emma’s play at the draw is what initially caught the eye of Al Bertolone, her former head coach at Mt. Sinai, in practice. In the past, Bertolone mentioned that Emma’s stick work is a key part of her success and her draw play shows that.

Bertolone said that in 2016, players would have to bust out of the draw circle before there was a possession. This led to Bertolone’s decision to put Emma in the defensive box, and he would coach specialists to steer the ball to one of the corners of the field for the then-freshman to go collect it. 

“She’s got a knack for boxing out. She can go up and get the ball in one hand and she’s tremendous on a scramble,” Bertolone said. “It’s one of her fortes.”

Even as a first-year player, Emma was put on the first draw team, providing a “boost off the bench” for a Mustangs team that went 17-2 and eventually won the state championship. Emma felt that this experience and success on the draw in high school prepared her for what was to come at SU. 

“It gave me a good feel, and a good sense of direction for the whole draw dynamic,” Emma said. “(The play) is not the same but it really gave me that aggressiveness to go after the ball, talk to my teammates and get a good connection.

Alex Levy | Contributing Designer

In her first season at Syracuse in 2020, Emma wasn’t able to contribute in the circle as the Orange had no particular player that won most of the draw controls. That season, SU only had two different players (Morgan Widner and Grace Fahey) with at least 20 draw controls. Emma didn’t tally any. 

In 2021, Emma did not record any draw wins in her first seven games, but that changed on April 6 against Georgetown. Standing on the right side of the circle, Emma boxed out the Hoyas’ Natalia Lynch as Mashewske won the draw. She scrambled to scoop the ball, which had rolled to the 12-meter.

With possession, Emma quickly moved past two Georgetown defenders and scored while falling down. And immediately after that goal, Emma tallied another draw control which resulted in a Jenny Markey score. After the win over the Hoyas, Emma finished last season third on the Orange in draw wins.

This year, Emma knew she was going to play more of a role in the draw unit. Recently, Mashewske has improved with double-digit draw totals in three out of the last four games, including 11 in a win over Virginia Tech in March.

With SU holding the lead against VT, Emma once again collected a draw and set up an attack. The set now led to Meaghan curling around the 8-meter, where she had Emma cutting in. Meaghan sent the ball to Emma, who fired a shot past Morgan Berman’s right shoulder. 

“I think I’ve done pretty well (on the draw) throughout the season,” Emma said. “(The draw unit) has been gradually improving, but I also think we’re getting better.”

Published on April 4, 2022 at 11:18 pm

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