As the buzzer sounded to end the third period, Jakob Phaup was shoved to the ground by Christian McHugh. Phaup stood and exchanged words with the Lehigh midfielder, but then ran back to the Syracuse bench. SU and Lehigh did plenty of talking on Saturday afternoon at Lazer Stadium, starting in warm ups. The Orange fell to Lehigh, 14-10, in their third and final scrimmage of the fall. 

Here are three takeaways from the game. 

Time and space

Syracuse’s defense huddled with goalie Drake Porter outside the goal crease for the third time just over three minutes into the scrimmage. Twice, Christian Mule had cut across the face of goal, received the ball and fired it past Porter. For Lehigh’s second goal, two defenders converged on a cut to the middle, opening up space at the restraining line for a long shot. 

Throughout the game, SU’s defense was a step behind Lehigh attackers, giving them space to fire shots. Porter improved in the second quarter to limit the Mountain Hawks to two goals, but both came when the left wing was left unattended as Lehigh swung the ball around the outside of the SU defense. The backside defender again lost his mark on the right side to start the second half and backup goalie Luke Strang could do nothing but stand and watch as the ball furrowed into his cage. 

It was a sharp reminder of the youth in the Orange’s defensive corps. Tyson Bomberry, who co-led Syracuse in caused turnovers and was second in ground balls, graduated. The other co-leader in caused turnovers from last season, Nick Mellen, will have to fill that gap on the field and as a leader. 

Big names shine

Tucker Dordevic missed all of last season with a foot injury. Chase Scanlan was part of the Loyola team that knocked Syracuse out of last year’s NCAA tournament. Both are playing for SU this year and showed the most creativity of the players in orange and white on Saturday. 

Scanlan, along with the rest of the SU offense, took time to get going, but he contributed two first-half goals. First, he spun off a Lehigh defender, leaving him on the ground, and looked off the goalie with a fake pass. He finished the play with a no-look finish. For his second goal, Scanlan took a feed to the right of the Lehigh goalie. Tip-toeing around the crease, he snuck his shot into the net. 

Dordevic didn’t find twine but was the focal point of the Syracuse offense. He was given freedom to keep the ball and try and dodge the Lehigh defenders. He roamed from behind the net to the wings and all the way up to the top of the restraining box. The closest he got to a goal was when he beat his defender with speed and rung his shot off the post. It was clear that he will be the playmaker in the Orange offense this season. 

Stagnant offense

Dordevic took a pass on the right wing with 75 seconds on the shot clock and drifted down behind the net. For the next 15 seconds, he held the ball, trying to dodge past his defender and get to the side of the net. Without finding any openings, he flung it over the cage and past everyone for an over-and-back. Syracuse’s offense for most of the afternoon forced its star players to have to create without much movement from the other attackers. It led to an 11-6 hole heading into the fourth quarter. 

Most of Syracuse’s goals in the first three quarters came in transition. It was the most space it had all afternoon. But when Lehigh tracked back and forced SU into half-field sets, the Orange struggled. Lehigh packed the middle, and Syracuse swung the ball around the outside without many looks inside. When it gained position behind the net, there weren’t hard cuts to the sides to gain openings. 

It took until midway through the final frame for Syracuse to find space in the middle of the Lehigh defense. Jake Nelson took a pass with his back to the net, surrounded by defenders, and flicked the ball behind his back and into the goal. Then Pete Fiorini waltzed toward the front of the goal to bring the lead down to three goals. Without Dordevic and Scanlan on the field, Syracuse finally moved and looked to cut open the Lehigh defense with passing. 

Published on October 26, 2019 at 4:57 pm

Contact Arabdho: armajumd@syr.edu | @aromajumder