Syracuse head coach Phil Wheddon bent his knees and hovered over a backpedaling Georgia Allen. Allen traced the ball with her eyes as a defender tracked her. 

“Win the first ball, Georgia,” Wheddon screamed toward Allen. 

She didn’t. 

“OK, win the second ball then,” he said. 

Again, she didn’t. 

As the Orange’s deficit got deeper, Wheddon ran out of advice for his players. The Tar Heels controlled the game. All he could do was watch. 

“They’re taking a national team player off the field and replacing them with another national team player,” Wheddon said. “Unfortunately, a lot of our players don’t, and that’s the difference.” 

No. 3 North Carolina’s (11-2-1, 6-0 Atlantic Coast) overload of talent exposed Syracuse (3-11, 0-6) when they tried to mount an early first-half comeback. SU couldn’t get past midfield as the Tar Heels’ backline clobbered Syracuse forwards trying to change direction. The Orange put one shot on goal all game in a 7-1 loss. 

During its eight-game losing streak coming into Sunday, Syracuse was outshot in all but it’s Sept. 9 matchup with Colgate. Against three ranked teams during that span, the Orange mustered an average of 4 shots per game to its opponents 20. 

When SU opened the game with possession to start, it played forward. Allen slipped the ball to Shannon Aviza, who ran up the field. A UNC defender closed in on her space, Aviza pivoted and the Tar Heel ripped the ball from Aviza’s foot. North Carolina booted the ball near its box and camped out on that side of the field. 

UNC held onto the ball, scoring five minutes into the game, and kept the ball near SU’s net. The Tar Heels piled onto its lead, making it 2-0 until SU broke through. Mishandled by North Carolina’s Julia Ashley, Meghan Root snuck past Bridgette Andrzejewski in the 27th minute to score on its second shot of the night. 

“They’re always talking about getting in on that second ball,” Root said. “It worked there.” 

But UNC gathered at midfield after the score and held onto the ball for all but two possessions for the rest of the first half. 

Every missed shot and errant corner kick spilled out to Allen, SU’s deepest player on offense. Allen was met by two, sometimes three Tar Heels who circled around the junior, stealing the ball from her grasp. 

Following a misplay before the end of the half, Wheddon, who usually follows his players into the locker room, gathered the coaches for a four-minute meeting. With his hands atop his head, he looked distressed. He said he discussed how to slow the Tar Heels down. But it couldn’t help. 

The ball was on UNC’s side of the field for the first four minutes of the half. SU got it back briefly but then lost it again. When SU players coughed up the ball, North Carolina held possession and turned it into goals. 

“(There’s) a couple moments where we’ve got to get a foot on it,” Root said. “We’ve got to be tighter to our players.” 

Even as UNC added to its lead, SU couldn’t find the ball. Every Orange turnover was coupled with a long Tar Heels possession that usually led to a shot on goal. 

After the game, Wheddon listed off a multitude of reasons why Syracuse couldn’t contain the ball: pass selection, misread crosses and not enough pace. 

Wheddon said he challenged his players before the game to fight with UNC. He didn’t think they were hesitant. They were just outplayed. 

“Against a team of this caliber,” Wheddon said, “you’re not going to get any breaks.”

Published on October 7, 2018 at 6:18 pm

Contact KJ: kjedelma@syr.edu | @KJEdelman