No. 1 Maryland vs. No. 4 Syracuse
Many were surprised when Maryland took it to Syracuse in a mid-February game. The Terps 19-11 win over the preseason No. 1 team was just the beginning of an impressive run Maryland would make through the season, finishing undefeated and the ACC champions for the fifth straight season.
Friday night’s game between the Orange and the Terps will be nothing like the first.
“Syracuse is a great team,” said Maryland coach Cathy Reese. “We saw them in early February and haven’t seen much of them since. Both of our teams have changed significantly since then.
One of the changes is Syracuse’s defense, as the Orange switched to a backer zone early in the season. Coach Gary Gait said the change was made after the game against Maryland. The defense has been very effective, averaging 8.43 goals allowed per game. The Orange also rank in the top 20 in Division I in caused turnovers with star defender Becca Block leading the team with 30.
“We do work on the zone offense a little,” said Gait. “We like to mix it up. Last game, we played a little man and a little zone. I think it’s important to be able to play differently and you look at your personnel and you make decisions on how you’re going to play and that’s how we’ve evaluated after our first few games. We made some adjustments to some young midfielders and made decisions that way.”
On the other end, Maryland counters with a defense led by first-team All-American Iliana Sanza and a senior goalie Kasey Howard, whose strong performance in 2013 has been a storyline throughout the season. A backup to All-American Brittany Dipper for three years, Howard battled redshirt sophomore Abby Clipp for the starting job and has been a solid presence in net all season.
“We had our goalies fight it out in the beginning of the year and she stepped up for us big in a lot of these early games and has really taken ownership of our defense,” said Maryland coach Cathy Reese. “She’s a good communicator and a good director back there. She watched Brittany for three years and now as a senior she had her opportunity to show what she can do. She might look little in the cage, but she does a big job for us in cage.”
While Alyssa Murray and Kayla Treanor have led the Syracuse offense, the Orange are very balanced and have gotten contributions from all over the field. Syracuse’s ability to share the ball was as evident as ever in their quarterfinal win over Florida as Treanor scored three goals and Murray, Katie Webster, Devon Collins and Kailah Kempney each scored two apiece.
“I think Syracuse has a lot of offensive weapons,” Reese said when asked about her defensive game plan. “To be completely honest, we had the day off on Sunday, so we’re going to think about our game plan as we go through the week. It’s been a long time since we’ve seen Syracuse. We’re aware we need to put forth a solid team effort on defense and make sure we’re being smart and making solid decisions across the board.
Complicating the ability to gameplan defensively is the potential that star attacker Michelle Tumolo gets on the field. Tumolo, who tore her ACL in April, warmed up with the team and dressed for Saturday’s game. She was put in for the last minute as Gait wanted her to have the opportunity to say goodbye to the Carrier Dome.
If Tumolo were to play, she wouldn’t be the first player this postseason to fight through and ACL tear. Stony Brook’s Claire Petersen played two NCAA Tournament games on a torn ACL as did UMass midfielder Kelsey McGovern.
“I’d love to get her in again,” Gait said. “She’s an inspirational leader to our program. She’s done a lot for us and it’s always nice when you can provide a senior with an opportunity to get on the field. I’m hoping to, but we’ll see.”
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