One word: bad. That’s all you need to know about No. 18 Syracuse’s 22-6 loss to No. 16 Notre Dame on Saturday. For the second straight year, SU went to South Bend in dire need of a win. For the second straight year, the Orange gave up exactly 22 goals while putting together an uninspiring effort offensively. With that mark, SU gives up 20 or more goals twice in a season for the second straight year- something that previously hadn’t happened since 1997. Syracuse drops to 4-5 with the loss, while the Irish improve to 3-4.
Bad Start
Make no mistake, this game was over quickly. Jeffrey Ricciardelli opened the scoring three and a half minutes in for the Irish, and from there, the floodgates opened. Nine Notre Dame goals, including four from Jake Taylor (more on him later), set the tone for a humiliating loss. It only took 11 minutes for Notre Dame to reach 7 goals- and that was enough to secure the victory.
“It wasn’t a great effort,” Head Coach Gary Gait said postgame. “Notre Dame played unbelievable. It was a first quarter I haven’t seen in a long time.”
Bumpy Bobby
One of the brightest spots of Syracuse’s 2-game win streak entering Saturday’s game was the play of Bobby Gavin. The Virginia transfer had played the full 60 in both games while recording double-digit saves in each of them. It the previous two games were the highest of highs for Gavin, well, Saturday was the lowest of lows. The netminder couldn’t even make it out of the first quarter before he was pulled for Harrison Thompson. Gavin only lasted 12 minutes, saving just two shots while allowing eight goals.
Jake Taylor Shines
Jake Taylor was unheard of in the 315 before the game. The junior attack had only appeared in one contest this season entering today. Safe to say he’ll be playing a lot more as the season goes on. In his first career start, Taylor scored EIGHT goals- a total that broke the program record for goals in a game.
PROGRAM RECORD!
— Notre Dame Lacrosse (@NDlacrosse) April 2, 2022
Jake Taylor scores his ND program record EIGHTH goal of the day in his 1st career start! Here's one of his #SCTop10 from earlier. Watch on ESPNU.#GoIrish☘️ pic.twitter.com/rVo1thl8Sb
Offensive offense
If the defense wasn’t already horrible, the offense wasn’t much better. Their six-goal output is the lowest in a single-game in over four years. It’s not like they didn’t have opportunities- Jakob Phaup was 20-31 on faceoffs- but shooting just 6-36 as well as 18 turnovers did them in.
The Big Picture
With five games left, Syracuse sits at 4-5. The Orange need to go at minimum 3-2 to be up for consideration for the NCAA Tournament. It’s not going to be easy: four of SU’s final five games are against ranked opponents. Despite the tournament inching closer and closer, it’s on the back of Syracuse’s mind.
“We’re talking about the tournament already!?” Gait said postgame. “We’re talking about our next game at this point.”
That next game is the only unranked opponent left on Syracuse’s schedule. SU will travel to take on UAlbany this Thursday. The Orange beat the Great Danes 13-8 when they met in 2021. WAER’s coverage begins with GZA Countdown to Faceoff at 6:30, followed by the game.