Unfortunately, that epic comeback by the Orange is merely a sweet silver lining on a dark cloud heading into Saturday’s quarterfinal matchup with the Princeton Tigers. Dubbed the Mother’s Day Miracle, the Orange’s impressive comeback was possible more because of Syracuse’s own mistakes than anything that Harvard did. The Orange played with fire against the Crimson by digging such a deep hole for themselves, and that’s not something they’ll be able to get away with moving forward.
Syracuse men's lacrosse turned it over 20 times against Harvard, making the Orange -6 in turnover margin. It’s hard to win games with that much of a turnover deficit. It literally took a comeback for the ages to overcome it. Unfortunately, sloppy turnovers and failed clears have been a recurring theme for Syracuse this season, playing a role in creating deficits the Orange couldn’t overcome in late-season losses to Duke and North Carolina.
Even in recent wins, Syracuse had problems with turnovers. They failed to run out the clock late in both the ACC Championship Game against Duke and their win over Harvard. The Blue Devils missed a last-second shot that could have forced overtime, whereas the Crimson did score late to force overtime after the Orange took a 12-11 lead late in regulation. Those situations didn’t cost the Orange, but they should be looked at as red flags heading into the quarterfinals.
At this point in the season, Syracuse isn’t going to beat Princeton or any other team left in the field if it keeps turning it over and digging holes. If they do, the quarterfinals could play out like their April 19 loss to Duke, in which the Orange fell behind 4-0 and lost 11-7. Sloppy play led to similar deficits a week later against North Carolina, with a furious late-game comeback falling short.
Syracuse men's lacrosse is hoping to get back to the Final Four.
The good news is that Syracuse can still take control of its own destiny. As the Orange showcased last week, they have a lethal man-up unit, even if Princeton ranks first nationally in man-up scoring percentage. Syracuse also has a chance to dominate possession with face-off specialist John Mullen, who has the third-highest win percentage in the country. Those strengths have helped to carry the Orange all season, and they can continue to do so.
However, the Orange needs to clean up its act in some areas and stop being architects of their own downfall. Knowing Mullen can win face-offs has made them loose and sloppy with the ball on offense at times. Syracuse is also a lowly 37th nationally in clearing percentage. As long as those problems persist, the Orange is playing with fire. But if Syracuse can clean up those issues, its Final Four drought might finally come to an end.