Syracuse battled back from a four-goal deficit on Sunday night to take down Albany, 11-9, in the first round of the NCAA tournament. No. 8 seed SU (12-4, 2-2 Atlantic Coast) will next face top-seeded Maryland (15-2, 5-0 Big Ten) in the quarterfinals in Providence, Rhode Island on Saturday at noon. The Orange will be playing for its first trip back to the Final Four since 2013.

Amid the current postseason run, beat writers Connor Grossman, Jon Mettus and Paul Schwedelson answer three questions about Syracuse.

How did Syracuse beat Albany to get here?

Connor Grossman: Simply, Syracuse beat Albany on its biggest comeback of the season. Four goals isn’t climbing a mountain, but how SU got back into the game is significant. After going down 5-1 in the second quarter, the next six Orange goals were scored by different players. Offensive depth is a common theme that’s run throughout the whole season, but surely it was a boost of confidence knowing that the team’s secondary scoring options can still be relied upon. Perhaps the most telling number from the first-round win is one: the point total for team-leading scorers Dylan Donahue and Nick Mariano. Can this team advance further if those performances repeat themselves? Probably not. But on Sunday against the Great Danes, it didn’t matter.

Jon Mettus: The first half against Albany was gut check for Syracuse and honestly, SU was lucky the score wasn’t worse. The Orange was able to respond, though, and pull off the comeback thanks to overall improved play and some adjustments made by head coach John Desko. He rotated in backup attacks Nick Piroli and Nate Solomon to play with Donahue and moved starting attack Tim Barber back to midfield at times. The change mixed things up for a stagnating offense and created favorable matchups for the Orange to exploit. Of Syracuse’s nine goals in the second half, eight were scored by different players.

Paul Schwedelson: I’m not sure if people appreciated the in-game coaching decisions that Desko made against the Great Danes that really helped spark the Syracuse offense. SU had its worst offensive half of the season with just two goals in the first half, and Desko trusted backups Solomon and Piroli enough to put them on the field in the third quarter with the season on the line. Desko toyed with bumping Barber back to midfield, where he played at the start of the season, and also got Jordan Evans involved from the top of the offensive area. This created matchup problems and Barber and Evans, two strong dodgers, were defended by short sticks. Syracuse made the most of it and outscored Albany, 9-3, in the second half. Job well done by Desko.

Frankie Prijatel | Senior Staff Photographer

How can Syracuse beat Maryland?

C.G.: Syracuse is going to need the ball more if it’s going to beat Maryland. Desko lamented after SU’s win over Albany that his team played a lot of defense in the first half, and essentially got burned for it. Receiving more possessions undeniably starts at the X, and faceoff specialist Ben Williams had a lackluster first quarter on Sunday, but the offense needs to better take care of the ball against the Terrapins. Primary ball handlers Sergio Salcido and Mariano each had a couple of turnovers against Albany, and UMD’s defense won’t be pushed around, allowing under eight goals per game on average. SU needs to maximize its scoring opportunities against a sharp goalkeeper in Kyle Bernlohr, and keep its defense from overextending itself.

J.M.: Yes, Maryland is the No. 1 ranked team and No. 1 seed, but it’s not blowing every team out of the water. Though the Terrapins have lost just twice, seven of their 15 wins have been by three goals or fewer. The Orange has the talent and coaching to compete with anybody. The first half against Albany was scary and should be a small cause for concern, but I think it’ll give Williams even more incentive to come out with a bang at the X. Don’t expect Maryland to spread out and get 10 stall warnings like in the 2011 quarterfinal game where it beat top-seeded Syracuse — there’s a referee-started 30 second shot clock now. This one should (hopefully) be a thriller and come down to whoever gets the last few possessions of the game.

P.S.: Maryland is obviously favored, but this should be competitive because the Orange can compete with any team in the country — we saw that during SU’s two wins in the ACC tournament. The Terps’ Austin Henningsen wins 63.5 percent of faceoffs while Williams wins 62.2 percent. Though it’s easier said than done, if Williams can dictate the possession battle like he did by going 12-of-19 in the final three quarters against Albany, the Orange will have a shot. And its offense is diverse enough that even if one player isn’t on their game, someone else can pick up for them. The question Syracuse fans should be asking is who will step up, rather than will anyone step up. As Great Danes head coach Scott Marr said on Sunday, this is a Final Four-type matchup.

Daily Orange File Photo

What will be Syracuse’s biggest hindrance against Maryland and throughout the rest of the NCAA tournament if SU wins?

C.G.: If the Orange is going to get beat this May, it’s likely going to be the same its been beat a handful of times before in the regular season. Syracuse’s defensive play has quickly snowballed in the wrong direction toward the end of losses. SU relies heavily on Brandon Mullins, Nick Mellen and Jay McDermott, but that’s the unit that needs to outshine their regular season performances if Syracuse is going to make a deep run. SU is clashing with the top-seeded team in the NCAA tournament, and likely two elite offenses still stand in the way of the Orange and a national title even after Maryland. More than anything, the Orange needs stability on defense.

J.M.: The Orange’s defense is much improved from a unit that looked sloppy and flat-out bad at times this season. Slides were coming late, holes were popping open in front of the cage and opponents were taking advantage as Syracuse lost three games in a row during the middle of the season. Despite the progress, the defense, specifically the interior defense, is still SU’s biggest weakness. From now on, Syracuse will be playing teams with multiple top-level attacks that can find space and score. The ball watching that still occasionally arises will be exploited easily. That’s not to say that the defense will be run over in shootouts throughout the rest of the postseason. But its ability to force timely turnovers or just keep opponents off the board could be the difference between an exit in the quarterfinals or a spot in the national championship game.

Daily Orange File Photo

P.S.: At this point in the tournament, Syracuse is playing against the best of the best. And that means the offensive weapons its defense will be tasked to shut down are as good and better than SU has seen all season. The Orange has been successful with Mullins stopping big, physical attacks and Mellen guarding smaller, shiftier attacks. But now Syracuse will see players that can do it all. Maryland’s Matt Rambo is just 5 feet 10 inches but 195 pounds and has put up 35 goals and 22 assists this year. Based on how the rest of the bracket is looking, Brown’s Dylan Molloy, the Tewaaraton Award frontrunner could potentially loom in the Final Four. He ranks third in the country with 3.5 goals per game and first with 3.2 assists per game. And then in the championship, Loyola’s 6-foot-2 Pat Spencer (second in assists per game) or Notre Dame’s 5-foot-8 Matt Kavanagh (ninth in assists per game) could face Syracuse. The ability of these do-it-all attacks will test the Orange in a way it hasn’t been tested this year. It’s just a matter of how much the defense can handle before it cracks.

Published on May 17, 2016 at 4:58 pm