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When Syracuse took a 5-0 lead on Harvard within six minutes, order seemed to be restored. It was the perfect start after a bleak 11-7 loss to No. 6 Maryland last week. The game followed the same pattern as SU’s previous three wins. An offensive blitz to start, leaving its opponents with too much to overcome.
But Saturday was different.
Harvard didn’t lie down and watch in awe of Syracuse’s high-flying offense. Instead, the Crimson hunkered down. They three scored straight goals and turned what was going to be a blowout into a dogfight. One that SU came out on the losing end of.
No. 6 Syracuse (3-2, Atlantic Coast) was stunned by No. 15 Harvard 15-14, dropping its second straight game. The Orange’s second misstep is much more shocking than their first. Finn Thomson, Owen Hiltz and Sam English combined for 12 goals and John Mullen went 28-of-31 at the faceoff X, but the Orange produced just four goals in the second half.
“(You) can’t just show up and expect to win,” Syracuse head coach Gary Gait said postgame. “That was a valuable lesson today.”
During his weekly media availability, Gait said the Maryland loss gave his team an “opportunity to learn.” Saturday gave the Orange a chance to bounce back against Harvard, which came in fresh off a 19-15 loss to Colgate.
Syracuse pounced early. Two goals each from Hiltz and English on top of another one from Thomson — who finished with a career-high five goals — had SU cruising.
Fast forward 35 minutes of game time and Syracuse entered the fourth quarter tied 12-12. The improbable situation started with Harvard goalie Graham Stevens.
The freshman five-star recruit let in the first five shots he faced. Stevens joked postgame that he just wanted to touch the ball to find his rhythm. This came true following Harvard’s first forced turnover.
He helped slow down SU’s offense, especially in the second quarter, making seven of his 14 saves. Harvard chipped away at Syracuse’s lead, cutting it to 6-3 at the end of the first quarter. The lead never grew more than that for the rest of the game. A back-and-forth second quarter was capped off by Sam King beating Jimmy McCool from a right angle to cut Harvard’s deficit to 10-8. McCool made just five saves
McCool made just five saves and allowed 10 goals before being pulled for Michael Ippoliti after Teddy Malone made it 10-10 with 9:34 in the third quarter. All of a sudden the pressure was on Syracuse and it showed. Throughout the second half, the Orange made routine mistakes. Easy passes were dropped or thrown away and ill-advised shots were taken. Syracuse and Harvard both turned the ball over 15 times, but 12 of SU’s were unforced compared to 6 from the Crimson.
“We were just making mistakes, maybe we weren’t crisp or sharp enough… Whatever it is, it just looked sloppy,” Gait said.
Gait also pointed to SU not playing complementary lacrosse. It wasn’t just the offense that allowed Harvard to come back. Miscommunications on the defensive end led to easy Havard scores. Gait implored Syracuse to take longer possessions on offense so his defense could get in order.
It wasn’t like the Orange wouldn’t get the ball back. Mullen won the second-most faceoffs by an SU player in program history, yet Syracuse didn’t care for the ball like Havard.
Meanwhile, the Crimson’s execution was nearly flawless. Teddy Malone — who led Harvard with four goals in the win — gave the Crimson their first lead a minute and a half into the fourth quarter, curling around from X and beating Ippoliti. A miscommunication led to Miles Botkiss being wide open for an easy finish two minutes later.
Just like that Syracuse was down 14-12 with 12 minutes left.
It was a time for the much-heralded Syracuse offense to step up. A week ago, the Orange were shut down by Maryland. This time, they had a chance to right their wrongs.
English scored less than a minute after Botkiss, cutting the deficit back to one. It was a welcoming sign, though, over the next nine minutes, Syracuse didn’t record a shot on goal. When it needed a big play nobody stepped up. Spallina couldn’t conjure up anything from X, Hiltz was neutered and Thomson couldn’t find his usual pockets of space.
Harvard head coach Gerry Byrne said the Crimson condensed Syracuse’s offense, shutting down long skip passes from Hiltz, Thompson and Spallina. The game plan worked, with the Orange going one-and-done on five straight possessions. Every empty possession slashed the chances of a possible comeback.
The possibility of a comeback was on life support with SU trailing 15-13, until it was handed a gift. With 2:28 remaining Andrew Glinski was called for a two-minute locked-in cross-checking penalty.
Hiltz cashed in, scoring his fourth of the game with 1:34 remaining. Mullen won the ensuing faceoff and Gait called timeout. Syracuse had plenty of time to conjure up a good look. Hiltz initiated a pick-and-roll with Leo on the wing. As Hiltz cut in field, Leo popped open and Hiltz fed him.
Leo was open, so he took the shot. He fired low and Stevens was up to the task. Gait didn’t have any complaints about the attempt. He implores players that if they get an opportunity, take it. Leo did just that. But he telegraphed his attempt.
Syracuse got another chance after Harvard failed to clear after Leo’s shot. Hiltz carelessly tossed the ball across to Leo, though Martin Nelson got his stick to it. A mad scramble ensued for the ball. Somehow Greg Elijah-Brown — a substitute for the injured Jackson Birtwistle — who has totaled just three shots at SU ended up with the ball. Elijah-Brown spun and fired, but his shot whisked wide, and Stevens was there for the backup.
In that situation, it was as clear of a look as you can get and Syracuse couldn’t cash in. One last hail mary attempt ensued in the final seconds when Harvard couldn’t run out the clock. Syracuse didn’t get a shot off and Harvard’s bench steamed onto the field in celebration.
Multiple Syracuse players stood motionless. Some had their heads bowed down, almost in the sense of disbelief. The idea of Harvard coming into the dome and knocking off Syracuse, especially after its Maryland loss seemed far-fetched. Let alone if SU had a 5-0 lead.
That’s what happened and the Orange only have themselves to blame for it.
“When we made a mistake, they capitalized, you know, we had opportunities to capitalize and we didn’t,” Gait said.
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