VILLANOVA, Pa. — Kayla Treanor could only save Syracuse so many times.

On Friday night at Villanova Stadium, the Maryland defense clamped down when it needed to.

“We made some mistakes when we had chance to make plays,” said SU head coach Gary Gait. “It’s tough. The pressure is on the kids in a tight game. It is funny how quick time goes by when you score three or four in a row in a few minutes, and then it becomes very difficult to score.”

Treanor’s four goals and two assists weren’t enough for the No. 4-seed Orange as SU dropped an 11-10 heartbreaker to the top-seeded and undefeated Terrapins in the final four. The freshman did all she could, but Maryland’s defense made the proper adjustments and limited the rest of Syracuse’s attack.

That’s why UMD will play North Carolina for the national championship on Sunday night, and why the Orange’s season is over.

“Maryland is a great team, but I think we also are,” Treanor said. “I think we were really close and it’s a heartbreaking loss.”

In the opening minutes, it was already clear that Syracuse would need Treanor’s heroics.

On SU’s first possession, Natalie Glanell overthrew a pass and turned it over in transition. On the Orange’s next set, Alyssa Murray was whistled for an illegal pick. UMD twice capitalized at the other end, and Syracuse was down by two in the first five minutes.

Then Treanor took over. From behind the cage, she curled to her right and flung a shot into the top-right corner to put the Orange on the scoreboard.

Down 4-2 in the last 12 minutes of the half, Treanor again went to the wraparound to find the back of the net and keep SU’s offense afloat.

“We had a lot of trouble on Treanor today, obviously,” UMD head coach Cathy Reese said. “She is a phenomenal player. It’s hard for one defender to handle her. We needed to send a second one there, and we were late. She’s hard to coach against. She did a tremendous job for them on the offensive end.”

Still, the Terps took a 7-4 lead into the locker room, outshooting SU 14-9. But Treanor pulled the Orange back.

The freshman faked a pass, then worked her way inside and buried the shot to start the comeback. After a goal by Katie Webster cut the deficit to one, Treanor beat Megan Douty to the right and finished to knot the score at nine.

A minute and a half later, Webster tucked a shot in between a tight space to give Syracuse its first lead of the game. But it wouldn’t last long.

At the 16:51 mark, UMD’s Kelly McPartland notched her third goal by dodging along the goal line, splitting defenders and scoring to tie it up at 10. The Orange’s attack stalled.

The Terps stuck to SU’s cutters, giving Treanor few options when looking to facilitate the Syracuse offense from behind the net.

Maryland figured out how to defend SU’s screens, switching coverages swiftly and allowing Syracuse minimal off-ball movement. Murray, a Tewaaraton Award finalist, finished with just one point in the game.

“Maryland is a very good defensive team, one-on-one, very athletic,” Gait said. “Alyssa just didn’t get free. They marked her one-on-one and did a great job doing it. She tried to dodge a couple times early in the game and didn’t have great success with it.”

Treanor was left fruitlessly dancing around the back of the cage, looking for the openings she previously capitalized on, only to have any glimpse of hope rejected by the Terps.

The Terps converted a clear at the 8:36 mark of the second half, and the ball never saw Syracuse’s offensive side of the field again.

For the first four minutes of Maryland’s possession, the Terps patiently worked the perimeter, taking time off the clock while plotting its decisive goal. From behind the cage, Alex Aust chucked a pass up top to Katie Schwarzmann, who instantly fired a pass down low to Brooke Griffin for the pivotal goal.

For the last 2:51, the Terps went into stall mode and killed the remaining time off the clock. Maryland headed to the title game, and the Orange again came up short.

“I’m proud of my team for the effort they gave throughout the entire game. They never gave up,” Gait said. “They were down a couple times, rallied and fought back and gave everything they had.

“We’ll say goodbye to our seniors and regroup for another year next year, knowing again what it feels like to come up short.”

Published on May 24, 2013 at 10:30 pm

Contact Phil: pmdabbra@syr.edu | @PhilDAbb