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Syracuse nearly secured a top-five win Thursday after halftime defensive adjustments by Lelan Rogers stifled the Blue Devils in the ensuing 30 minutes. Since allowing 10 second-half goals in its season-opener against Army, Syracuse limited both Virginia and Duke to just three goals after the midway interval. Both opponents average just over seven goals post-halftime in every other game this season.

Against Duke, No. 4 Syracuse (4-2, 1-1 Atlantic Coast) took away the inside scoring chances that allowed 12 goals in the first half, head coach John Desko said. His defensive corps stopped over-committing to one threat, most notably Michael Sowers, forcing Duke (9-0, 1-0) to rely more on individual dodges. Without clear passing lanes, 12 of the Blue Devils’ 16 turnovers came in the second half. Syracuse’s improved defense keyed a comeback bid which fell just short, 15-14.

Here’s how the Orange will use their successes in the second half against Duke when they host No. 9 Notre Dame on Saturday, as well as some schemes they’ll need to tinker with:

There is no ball-dominant star like Sowers for Notre Dame. No disrespect to Pat Kavanagh, who is a supreme talent and leads UND with 28 points through five games, but within his team’s system, Kavanagh doesn’t have the ball in his stick nearly as much as someone like Sowers or Army’s Brendan Nichtern, both of whom picked apart Syracuse.

Sowers (No. 23) particularly showed off his gravity on multiple occasions. Mitch Wykoff couldn’t contain him behind the cage, which distracted Syracuse’s off-ball defenders. Here, Sowers is the catalyst. His shiftiness behind the net draws the attention of Grant Murphy (No. 90) and Dami Oladunmoye (No. 35). Syracuse recovers poorly when Sowers finds Nakeie Montgomery (No. 15) up top — both Oladunmoye and Brett Kennedy (No. 11) cover the same Duke player. That allows Joe Robertson (No. 8) to sneak unnoticed to the crease for the goal.

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UND doesn’t offer Kavanagh the same freedom that Duke does Sowers, and it has him play within the system more. But the Notre Dame sophomore’s vision is indisputable — he leads the nation with 4.2 assists per game.

Off-ball defense has been a weakness for Syracuse throughout the season, and it will need to be wary not only of Kavanagh but also of the Fighting Irish’s two-man game behind the cage. Here, UND gets a cheap goal against Virginia, with Will Yorke (No. 99) looking to set a screen and slipping to the goal line extended. He gets the pass from Griffin Westlin (No. 43) and dunks it home.

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The Orange struggled to defend a similar two-man set-play action against Duke. Brennan O’Neill (No. 34) comes out on the other side of the cage and makes a planned cut out to space instead of setting a screen for Sowers. Sowers hits O’Neill as he turns for the quick shot. O’Neill doesn’t score on this play, but Notre Dame will likely try and exploit those same spaces on Saturday.

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Against Duke, Syracuse’s better-schemed pressure in the second half turned the game around. Syracuse immediately improves on the design of its double to start the second half. Montgomery runs the two-man game with Sean Lowrie (No. 9) this time. Oladunmoye is on the move at the bottom of the screen before the pass is even thrown. As Lowrie catches the ball, Oladunmoye harrasses him from the backside so Lowrie can’t read the double. In the first half, Kennedy jumped to double, leaving Montgomery. This time, he stays put on Montgomery while his teammates nearly force a turnover.

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Doubling and pressuring Notre Dame in general will be trickier because of their spacing and how fast the Irish move the ball. SU’s chances to bring pressure will likely be on the wings.

Here’s a still-look at how wide UND gets offensively — the circled player has the ball:

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Like Duke, Notre Dame swings the ball around until it finds a short-stick matchup. But the Fighting Irish tend to initiate the dodge a tad quicker and on the move, so they look like this.

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Duke, on the other hand, slowed down before attacking. Here, Montgomery sizes up Oladunmoye before initiating his dodge. The end result, though, is the same.

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Syracuse features three of the most athletic short-stick defensive midfielders in the nation, and in the second half, Brandon Aviles showed it.

Here, Charlie O’Connor (No. 48) tries to take on Peter Dearth (No. 9) but can’t find space to get his shot off. Then, Lowrie tries to beat Aviles (No. 43) but is unsuccessful.

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Notre Dame will probably have multiple possessions that look similar to this on Saturday. But if Syracuse’s short-stick defenders play like they did in the second half against Duke, the Fighting Irish will struggle to find offense.

Published on March 29, 2021 at 10:18 pm

Contact Arabdho: armajumd@syr.edu | @aromajumder