PROVIDENCE, R.I. — No. 8 seed Syracuse’s (12-5, 2-2 Atlantic Coast) season ended on Saturday with a 13-7 loss to top-seeded Maryland (16-2, 5-0 Big Ten) at Brown Stadium in the quarterfinals of the NCAA tournament. The Orange’s national championship drought since 2009 continues and its Final Four drought since 2013 lives on.

Maryland attacks Matt Rambo and Dylan Maltz combined for seven goals and even though Syracuse faceoff specialist Ben Williams won 15-of-24 faceoffs, the Terrapins ran away with the game. The Orange’s offense struggled throughout and failed to sustain any momentum for several minutes.

Here are three takeaways from the game.

Modern Maltz

Maltz, who transferred from Syracuse, had a monster game against his former team including three first-half goals. He spent only one season with the Orange and received scarce playing time. On Saturday, SU got to see a different version of the player on its roster a couple of years ago.

On Maryland’s fourth goal of the game, Maltz caught a pass from midfielder Tim Rotanz right in the center of the field in front of the cage. After finishing the play, Maltz pumped his right fist as his momentum carried him behind the net. Then he slapped his chest several times during the celebration. And his big day was just beginning.

At the beginning of the second quarter, Maltz scored again to make it 5-1. And then once Syracuse switched to a zone later in the second quarter, Maltz again found a seam and zipped it home from less than 10 yards out.

Maltz entered the game averaging just over one goal per game. Earlier this week Maltz told reporters that he would treat it like any other game. But his three goals didn’t look like it was any other game.

Doing his job

Williams kept Syracuse somewhat in the game in the first half by winning 5-of-8 faceoffs but SU’s offense was stagnant as it scored just three goals in that time. And though he went on to go 15-of-24 overall, it still wasn’t enough.

Williams did his job, though, by keeping the ball away from Maryland. Still, Rambo and Maltz had a combined five goals by halftime as they repeatedly found the holes in the Orange’s defense.

The success at the X continued into the second half as Williams kept dominating. But in the fourth quarter, Maryland pulled away.

A week ago, Williams won just 50 percent of his faceoffs against Albany. Maryland faceoff specialist Austin Henningsen won 14-of-17 against Quinnipiac. For most of the season, Syracuse feasted on extra possessions and capitalized by scoring 12.8 goals per game.

On Saturday, Williams won the battle but it was Syracuse’s offense that couldn’t get the job done.

Catch 22

Maryland essentially challenged attack Jordan Evans to carry the Syracuse offense. The Terrapins put a long pole on midfielders Sergio Salcido and Nick Mariano. Since only four long poles are allowed on the field at once (typically they defend the three attacks and choose one midfielder), Evans drew the favorable matchup as an attack.

But the Orange’s leader in turnovers couldn’t take advantage early on. With a minute left in the first quarter, UMD short-stick midfielder Isaiah Davis-Allen pushed Evans away from the goal and though Evans was near the crease, his angle was poor. He unleashed a shot that goalie Kyle Bernlohr saved easily.

Compared to Syracuse’s other offensive threats, Evans had been less effective than he was most of the season. In his first year as a starting attack, he entered Saturday with 27 goals and eight assists.

After Maltz scored to make it 5-1 just three minutes into the second quarter, Evans was subbed out for freshman Nate Solomon.

Later in the second quarter, Solomon scored with just two minutes left in the half. He caught a pass from Salcido and quickly threw it in past Berhnlohr to cut the deficit to three.

Evans subbed in and out throughout the rest of the game but didn’t have much of an influence on the outcome.

Published on May 21, 2016 at 2:34 pm

Contact Paul: pmschwed@syr.edu | @pschweds