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Following a dominant win over Cornell, Syracuse’s record improved to a flawless 3-0 to begin the season. But just when the Orange seemed to be firing on all cylinders, adversity struck at the worst possible time.

Against No. 2 North Carolina and No. 3 Northwestern, SU was forced to battle without star attacker Olivia Adamson. Emma Ward scored 10 points across both contests, but it wasn’t enough to cover up Adamson’s absence.

Facing the prospect of falling into its first three-game losing streak since April 19, 2018, Syracuse looked to change its fortunes against another ranked opponent in Clemson. And again, the Orange were without Adamson, who was ruled out for the season.

Just like its first two games without Adamson, No. 5 Syracuse (3-3, 0-2 Atlantic Coast) fell 9-8 to No. 12 Clemson (5-0, 2-0 Atlantic Coast). Despite tying the game early in the fourth quarter, SU fell behind by two late in the frame and couldn’t recover. Across their three-game losing streak, the Orange have been held to eight goals in each contest.

“This is something that we’re gonna have to work through,” SU head coach Kayla Treanor said postgame of Adamson’s absence. “Our offense is definitely a new look, and we’re just gonna have to develop chemistry with some new faces.”

Behind 6-5 to start the fourth quarter, the lack of Adamson’s presence on the attack was especially felt. Without her ability to spread the ball around and take some of the heat off Ward, Syracuse’s offense was lulled into consecutive empty possessions.

While its offense sputtered, SU still salvaged some degree of success by drawing penalties, forcing the Tigers into 19 of them. The Orange were gifted two free-position chances in the final quarter, scoring both. Gracie Britton and Ward cashed in on the opportunities, helping the Orange finish the game 4-of-6 on scoring free positions.

“I wish we got to the line more, but 4-for-6 isn’t terrible,” Treanor said postgame. “What we’re going to have to do (moving forward) is be very efficient on offense.”

Despite the impact of its special teams, the unit couldn’t single-handedly save SU.

After Ward knotted the game at seven, it only took Natalie Shurtleff 43 seconds to restore Clemson’s advantage. From there, attack Lexi Edmonds added one more.

In the final minute, Caroline Trinkaus’ tally gave the Orange a glimmer of hope. But even with the late jolt and goalie Daniella Guyette pulled for the extra attacker, a costly foul by Alexa Vogelman allowed the Tigers to run out the clock.

In its previous matchup, Syracuse heavily leaned on Meghan Rode in the draw circle. In what has become a familiar sight this season, the unit found little success against Northwestern’s Sam Smith and Co., finishing a lowly 6-for-23.

If Syracuse would halt its skid before it reached three losses, it needed Rode to be at her best against Clemson. That didn’t happen.

Challenged by freshman midfielder Kira Balis and Shurtleff, Rode fell behind 5-1 on the draw in the first quarter. She failed to muster another win before Molly Guzik and Joely Caramelli replaced her as the unit continued to drag its feet to an abysmal 4-for-21 mark.

“For us it’s been a really tight turnaround between each day, so they’re really hasn’t been a whole lot of practice time available to make major adjustments,” Treanor said. “It’ll be great to have a week to work with these players on the draw.”

The Tigers ranked eighth in the nation in caused turnovers before Saturday, and Syracuse took a page out of their playbook. By halftime, Syracuse nearly matched the Tigers in the category, winning the turnover battle 12-11.

Even with Syracuse’s best efforts to strip her of the ball, Lindsey Marshall opened the scoring for Clemson. Edmonds nearly doubled the lead, but Guyette stoned her on a free position opportunity.

Six minutes in, Syracuse finally established its first lasting offensive possession. With Ward leading the charge, she worked the ball around X and fed a pass to Vogelman. Seeing Trinkaus unmarked across from her, she set her up for a shot and the freshman converted to draw SU even. Thirteen seconds later, Sam DeVito’s tally gave SU its first and last lead.

The Tigers embarked on a similar run to close the opening quarter. With goals less than a minute apart, Edmonds and Marshall restored the Tigers’ one-goal edge, 3-2.

The defensive-heavy battle continued into the second quarter, as the Tigers’ opening free position try was denied by Guyette. Amid back-and-forth turnovers, Katie Castiello netted her first of two tallies to put the Orange behind by two.

From there, Clemson only managed one more goal before halftime, largely due to the efforts of Superia Clark. With leading scorer Kayla MacLeod being neutralized by Clark’s persistent face-guarding, the Tigers’ offensive production was hindered in the first half without one of their biggest assets. After scoring 17 points through four games entering Saturday, the sophomore was held to just one Saturday.

Following a 24-minute scoring drought, Trinkaus got the Orange back on the scoreboard and cut their deficit to 4-3. But there wasn’t much time to celebrate, as Shurtleff quickly answered for Clemson and restored its two-goal cushion in the final 10 seconds of the half.

To open the third quarter, both teams continued to establish long-standing possessions while on the attack, only to be thwarted by a timely caused turnover. After the Orange and Tigers exchanged six combined turnovers, Ward was fouled and earned Syracuse its third free position attempt of the game. She converted.

At the other end, the Tigers punished her by converting on a player-up chance. With the help of a shooting space violation, Vogelman beat Emily Lamparter to cap off the third quarter and give the Orange a chance to rally.

Looking for a confidence-boosting win at home against Clemson, all Syracuse found was more reasons to doubt itself. And with one of the strongest schedules in Division I still ahead of it, nobody will feel sorry for it.

“Obviously, we still have a lot of work to do, which is exciting because I know that our team can be so much better than what we’re producing now,” Ward said.

Published on March 1, 2025 at 2:35 pm

Contact Matthew: mgray06@syr.edu | @ma77hew_gray