Jess Jecko spent the majority of the last five minutes of Sunday’s game with her arms crossed, watching her teammates on the other half of the field. The senior goalkeeper remained far removed from the action in the waning moments of the contest, much as she had been all game long.

Massachusetts only totaled five shots and Jecko was only required to make one save in what was a relatively easy game for the anchor of SU’s defense. Her teammates controlled possession throughout and kept the ball in the offensive zone.

“To only see (five) shots against a tough opponent like UMass is just a total team effort defensively,” Jecko said. “It starts with everyone — the forwards, midfielders, and backs.”

No. 4 Syracuse (4-0) shutout No. 18 UMass (2-2), 4-0, Sunday afternoon at J.S. Coyne Stadium to remain undefeated before starting Atlantic Coast Conference play next week. SU applied pressure through relatively constant offense and jumped passing lanes in the midfield. The Massachusetts attack was neutralized and never had an opportunity to put together a full-fledged offensive threat.

The Orange dominated defensively with aggressive stick play and rotations to confuse UMass. It dictated the tempo by moving the ball quickly with short touches and quick decisions while passing.

“(We were) being patient when a team drops back in half court press. It’s up to us to decide when to play forward,” Syracuse head coach Ange Bradley said. “… They got tired and we kept the ball moving.”

As little action as Jecko saw, one small miscue in the first half almost changed the entire game. Already leading 1-0, Syracuse allowed two UMass forwards to push the ball directly into the circle and into close quarters with Jecko.

Syracuse’s goalkeeper slipped, and with the ball squirting back and forth between players of both teams, Massachusetts’ Izzie Delario managed to fire a dangerously close shot. But as the ball flew through the air and toward the back of the cage, Roos Weers slid in to help the fallen Jecko and the ball ricocheted off her right thigh and back out of the circle. The play prevented a sure goal.

“Roos is an amazing defender and she really saved me there,” Jecko said. “I knew she was on my left and a girl made a good pull and like I said I was scrambling on the ground. She came up with a big save there.”

Five minutes after the halftime break, midfielder Laura Hurff neutralized a UMass push into SU territory by chasing down a forward and executing a poke check to knock the ball away, once again preventing UMass from even recording a shot.

“We just flew around and controlled the game from all areas of the field,” Hurff said. “We never gave up on plays.”

Published on September 6, 2015 at 5:28 pm

Contact Liam: lpsull01@syr.edu