Syracuse men’s lacrosse: Second-half woes continue as Orange fall to North Carolina, 12-10, in ACC Semis

After the Tar Heels opened the scoring by getting the SU defense caught in a defensive switch they didn’t want, the Orange offense answered quickly by doing a much better job of utilizing the pick game to disrupt the UNC defense than the first meeting.

A little pick-and-roll by Luke Rhoa on the right wing ended in an open look on the doorstep when both defenders stayed with Joey Spallina and left Luke all by himself, which proved to be the final goal in a surprising, 1-1 first quarter.

The second quarter opened with the first of Brevin Wilson’s three goals, as he dodge Tyler McCarthy from X and scored on a backhand shot while mid-dive around the crease less than 40 seconds into the frame. Once again, the Orange were ready with an immediate answer.

Michael Leo, who was involved in a tactical switch to midfield while Payton Anderson shifted down to attack, took the ball while coming in from the box and curled all the way around the top and down the far alley while absorbing a flurry of stick checks for a very nice finish on-the-run to tie the game at two a little over a minute into the quarter.

A few minutes later, ‘Cuse would show a tactical change on the other end when they came out of a UNC timeout in a zone with the four poles in a box formation with one shortie in the middle and the other shortie playing behind GLE. It seemed to work nicely at neutralizing Carolina’s young, athletic offensive arsenal, allowing for SU’s best stretch of the night.

It would be about nine minutes between goals, but the Orange ended the game’s scoreless drought right at the end of an EMO when Rhoa tried a swim dodge up top that drew enough attention to allow him to find Finn Thomson coming up from below GLE for an open finish right on the edge of the crease with just under five minutes to go in the half.

But the action was just heating up, as less than a minute later, Spallina got his second assist on a gorgeous BTB pass while dodging on the wing to Anderson moving diagonally in the opposite direction. Bear calmly received the pass and smoothly underhanded a shot without breaking stride to give ‘Cuse a 4-2 lead with four minutes to play.

The run continued with about three minutes on the clock, when Rhoa used a pick from X to spring him and come up from behind the crease to push the lead to three goals at 5-2.

Instantly, the Tar Heels answered with a double gut punch, courtesy of Brady Wambach. The FOGO answered off the ensuing face-off with a goal six seconds later as he won the draw and ran through a forrest of stick and body checks to score. Exactly 13 seconds after that, he stayed on after winning another FO and took a pass from Owen Duffy right in front for a second goal. Just 19 seconds after Luke Rhoa gave SU a 5-2 lead, Wambach almost single-handedly made it 5-4 with a head-spinning sequence.

The Orange would answer, though, as a Rhoa pick helped free Leo as he swept across the top of the defense before he found Finn cutting up into the soft middle for a beautiful turn-and-fire as he was fading away with 12 seconds in the half.

It felt like it gave ‘Cuse a jolt of momentum going into the locker room up 6-4, especially after the Wambach goals, but that proved not to be the case.

Carolina didn’t waste any time taking control in the second half, winning face-offs and scoring three goals out of the gate in the first five minutes to take their first lead since 2-1 at 7-6.

Unlike in the Notre Dame game, SU did provide an answer that, for a while, felt like it might be good enough. It started with some great ball movement that had UNC behind on rotation, which ended in an overhand hammer shot from Rhoa for his hat trick and Spallina’s third assist. A little over a minute later, Bear made a one-more pass up top to Leo for a flick-of-the-wrist, sidearm release from pretty deep that beat Josh Marcus and helped the Orange re-take the lead at 8-7, which was how the game went to the fourth quarter.

It actually started well for ‘Cuse, too, as a bit of unsettled transition led to Finn’s hat trick when Joey nabbed his fourth assist by dumping a pass down to a wide-open Finn on the low wing for a smooth finish. That goal put SU up, 9-7, with 13:55 remaining in the game.

But, from there, it was all UNC. The Tar Heels scored four in a row and five of the final six goals to see the game out as the Orange never went back to their zone in the second half, and it was some (unfortunately typical) sloppy play from ‘Cuse that helped contribute.

It was a problem that happened all game long and hit its apex during the worst possible time, but a flurry of mistakes, both mental and physical, ultimately played a big role in their downfall. The Orange went offside a bunch of times in this game, had sloppy turnovers, and committed ill-timed penalties, including three in the fourth quarter.

SU really got physical defensively in this game, throwing in hits everywhere they could to send a message to a UNC offense that had their way against them in the first game. Getting physical worked, at times, throughout the night, but a late hit by Billy Dwan on their first goal of the quarter led to an unnecessary roughness penalty that led to a second goal that tied the game at 9-9.

That play was huge and helped ignite the game-winning run from Carolina in which they controlled the game and made big plays in big spots, while the Orange committed too many errors down the stretch to survive the night.

Owen Duffy took over the game, assisting on four of the five UNC tallies in the fourth.

Leo added one final goal on a nice split dodge with three minutes to go that made it 11-10, but the Orange never even got the ball back until the very end as the Tar Heels added an insurance goal to win it, 12-10.

The Orange have a lot to figure out in the next week. They’ll find out their NCAA Tournament path on Sunday night’s selection show at 9:30 PM on ESPN U.