Inconsistent draw control play hampers No. 5 SU in OT loss to Stony Brook
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For the 29th time in the game, Syracuse’s Kate Mashewske etched her cleats along the midfield line to take the opening draw of overtime. Between the first 28 draws, SU and Stony Brook each controlled 14 and the score was tied 12-12.
Mashewske needed to position herself or one of her teammates to gain possession and ignite a game-winning goal, which she did. Until she didn’t. Battling Charlotte Verhulst, Mashewske flicked the ball to her left and used a quick first step to corral it first.
But then came Stony Brook’s Ellie Masera, who jarred the ball free before controlling her game-high ninth draw. Then along the sidelines driving into SU’s defense, Masera drew a green card, giving the Seawolves a player-up opportunity to ice the game. Masera proceeded to do so, scoring her fourth goal.
“That was a special play,” Stony Brook head coach Joe Spallina said. “For her to chase down one of their better players, to take the ball from her, then to draw a foul on that play.”
Hampered by inconsistency in its draw control play, No. 5 Syracuse (3-3, 0-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) fell 13-12 to No. 12 Stony Brook (5-0, 0-0 Coastal Athletic) in overtime. The Orange went 14-for-29 on the draw, losing the draw control battle for the second time this season — SU is 0-2 in such games. Midway through the third quarter, Syracuse was winning the draw 9-4, but the Seawolves responded by winning 11 of the next 16, igniting their upset win.
Though Syracuse’s offense struggled in the first half, scoring a season-low four goals, its draw control was one of its few bright spots. The Orange trailed 2-0 halfway through the first quarter before midfielder Maddy Baxter picked up a ground ball after Mashewske flung the ball to her left on the draw.
Baxter proceeded the weave through the Seawolves’ defense and as she neared the crease, Emma Ward was unaccounted for. Ward received a feed and beat Stony Brook goalie Emily Manning 1-on-1 for SU’s first goal of the game.
After Mashewske won her first of a team-high six draws, Olivia Adamson missed a player-up opportunity off the pipe. The Seawolves capitalized off the miss, taking a 3-1 lead off a free-position score from Kaily Hart — who scored a game-high five goals.
Immediately following Hart’s strike, Mashewske helped the Orange answer right back. After her second consecutive draw control win, she dished the ball behind to Katie Goodale, who then found Emma Muchnick open with space. Muchnick drove the ball down near the 12-meter before dishing it to Adamson near the center of the crease, who scored 14 seconds after Hart to cut SU’s lead down to 3-2.
“(Mashewske) was a difference maker early,” Spallina said.
While Mashewske ignited two first-quarter goals, Syracuse’s attack couldn’t muster any more goals following draws in the first half despite controlling the draw 7-of-11 times. SU’s offense struggled as a whole, trailing 5-4.
Coming out of the break, Syracuse won the first two draws and made it 5-5 after Baxter corralled the opening draw of the half. Though Mashewske won the next draw, SU coughed the ball up before causing a defensive turnover of their own.
From that point, Syracuse tacked on two more goals over the next four minutes as it led 7-5 — its largest lead of the game. Following the Orange’s 3-0 run, Stony Brook responded with three straight goals.
After Savannah Sweitzer gave SU a two-goal lead, the Seawolves’ draw control unit came to life. Verhulst flung the ball ahead near the sidelines, where Alex Finn was the first to it before drawing a foul. On the player-up opportunity, Finn dished one of her game-high five assists to Hart, who trimmed the Seawolves’s deficit to one.
On the ensuing draw, Verhulst popped the ball up to herself, controlling the ball before driving down the field to set up Stony Brook’s offense. The Seawolves then slowed down before Jaden Hampel found a crease and drew a shooting space foul. On her free position shot, Hampel scored her first goal of the season to knot the game 7-7 with seven minutes remaining in the third quarter,
“I give all props to (Verhulst), I think she is one of the best if not the best draw takers in the NCAA right now,” Masera said.
Immediately following Hampel’s goal, Verhulst won her second straight draw — and the Seawolves third in a row — before Finn and Hart again connected, this time giving Stony Brook an 8-7 lead.
Yet, just like they did going into the third quarter, Syracuse dominated the beginning of the fourth quarter. A free position goal from Emma Tyrrell in the third brought an 8-8 tie to the beginning of the fourth quarter.
Though Hart scored the first goal of the fourth quarter, the Orange responded with a 3-0 run on goals from Natalie Smith, Tyrrell and Ward, all of which came on free position shots.
Syracuse lost all three draw controls before all three of its goals, but it couldn’t capitalize on a draw control win from Smith midway through the fourth quarter after Ward’s goal gave it an 11-9 lead.
Following a massive defensive stand where it saved a free position shot from Smith and a second-chance shot from Baxter, Verhulst scored on the other end to make it a one-score game.
Then, Masera took over down the stretch, winning consecutive draw controls that led to the Seawolves’ next two goals. Masera’s third goal with 1:08 remaining off a draw control win gave Stony Brook a 12-11 lead.
Mashewske then stepped up when SU needed her most, winning her first draw control since the third quarter, which led to a last-second goal in regulation from Baxter.
Though it looked like Mashewske won her second consecutive draw in overtime, Masera swooped in, stealing the ball away before stealing the game.
“We talked a lot to our players about it being a big game for a reason, both teams are gonna make plays,” Spallina said. “So it’s about us responding, being able to answer their runs.”
