Emma Russell doesn’t find any extra motivation in playing Connecticut this Friday. Just being two wins away from a national championship provides enough incentive.

No. 1 seed Syracuse (19-1, 6-0 Atlantic Coast) fell 1-0 to UConn last November in the 2014 national championship, but for Russell and the Orange, last year’s nightmare won’t haunt them in preparing for the upcoming national semifinal.

“They’re going to have a completely different team and I think that’s the way we have to look at it,” Russell said. “That’s something in the past and that’s something this team isn’t about. We’re all just looking ahead of us.”

Though No. 4 seed Connecticut (22-0, 5-0 Big East) owns a 28-9-1 advantage in the all-time series, the Orange has adapted since losing last fall to better attack defenses like UConn’s. Last year, the Huskies compacted its press defense to stifle active, forward-pushing attacks like Syracuse’s.

Syracuse’s movement from the back and through the midfield over the weekend showed the team is better equipped to face a defense designed to counter its biggest strength — speed. Syracuse notched a pair of decisive victories in the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament, 4-2 over No. 20 Massachusetts and 5-0 over No. 16 Princeton. And while it used speed to initiate a few fast-break opportunities, the team flashed glimpses of the patient attack it developed over the season.

Last year in the national championship, UConn’s defense held an SU offense that averaged 17.7 shots per game in 2014 to seven. Syracuse’s 2015 offense heads into Friday’s game with an even higher mark of 20.7 shots per game.

“I think last year they played really low in their pressing,” Alma Fenne said. “I think maybe we’re going to work on that.”

Sunday, Syracuse reversed the ball around the back of its defense with patience, awaiting breakdowns in the Princeton defense. It’s not necessarily the culmination of a season’s worth of work, but tangible progress that drew results.

Laura Hurff thought the midfield and back movement was a strength in creating opportunities against the UMass defense. SU found even more success Sunday with its patient approach to cracking Princeton’s defense.

After backs Zoe Wilson and Roos Weers passed back and forth a few times in the rear, Weers pushed the ball up the field to Hurff. As the Tigers scrambled to react, she passed up to Serra Degnan who in turn, found Liz Sack just in front of the goal.

Sack’s job was simple enough. The junior forward flipped the ball into the goal with relative ease, giving Syracuse a commanding 2-0 lead less than 15 minutes into the game.

“We can pick and choose when we want to go forward and I think that’s something our backs do really well,” Russell said. “… They’re able to swing the ball forward and then when we feel we can go forward, we can go … That just takes timing and it helps us up front.”

Published on November 16, 2015 at 9:03 pm

Contact Liam: lpsull01@syr.edu