As No. 3 Syracuse prepared to face No. 1 Maryland last Friday, the key word floating throughout practice was “execute.” Through 69 minutes, the Orange did exactly that and held the Terrapins scoreless while nursing a slim one-goal lead.

But it takes only one minute of sloppy play to derail an otherwise masterful performance, and SU found that out the hard way.

“They pulled out their goalie, and we just needed to focus on that and how to manage the ball,” sophomore midfielder Emma Russell said. “Unfortunately, we lost that in the last 49 seconds.

“At the time, obviously it’s really hard to swallow something like that after controlling the game the whole time.”

This weekend, the Orange (12-2, 2-2 Atlantic Coast) will have two opportunities to erase the sour taste from that 2-1 overtime loss, first against No. 16 Wake Forest (10-6, 0-4) on Saturday at 1 p.m. and then against Cornell (8-5, 2-2 Ivy) the following day at 2 p.m.

The only way that can happen is if the team follows through on its new one-word mantra.

Finish.

“The game is 70 minutes, and we played a really good game and executed all but the last minute and a half,” head coach Ange Bradley said. “But we’ve learned that all of us, myself included, could have done different things.”

The Orange outplayed the Terrapins throughout the game and nearly was able to pull off the upset.

For one, it played excellent defense. Maryland entered the game with 65 goals, including 13 from Jill Witmer. However, Witmer and the other Terrapin skill players failed to find the cage despite generating 16 shots.

Additionally, the counterattack was responsible for setting up Karlee Farr’s second-half goal, one that Bradley used “beautiful” twice to describe.

But Bradley and the rest of the team know that people will only remember the one lapse in concentration that turned the final outcome on its head.

That’s why SU is making sure it doesn’t happen again.

“The next time we see this team, we’ll be more rehearsed and more prepared in critical moments of the game, “Bradley said. “Even though it’s a loss in the column, when you can do that and evaluate, that’s a win.”

Junior back Jordan Page was admittedly frustrated in the locker room after the game, but she too found a silver lining from the final result. In fact, she and some of the upperclassmen immediately assured everyone there’s no need to panic.

“It was a really good learning and growing moment for us, realizing that game management is very important and being able to stop the ball before it gets close to the circle,” Page said. “But the whole game proves and shows all of us that we can compete with the best teams in the country, and we are one of the best teams in the country.”

More painful than the loss itself was the hit Syracuse took in the ACC standings. The Orange would have moved into first place with a win, but now sits in third.

That’s why Saturday’s contest with the Demon Deacons has added importance. The only way the Orange will be able to fight for the top spot is with a strong finish to the regular season.

With three games remaining, that means a full 210 minutes with no mistakes.

“It’s something really easily fixed. It’s just important for us mentally to stay there the whole match,” Russell said. “It just keeps replaying in your mind what happened, but all of us just said that it’s better to happen now and we can learn from it for the future.”

Published on October 24, 2013 at 12:18 am

Contact Tyler: tfpiccot@syr.edu