SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Arm in arm, Loyola Maryland players circled in front of coach Jen Adams. Some hugged, while others pulled their jerseys up to their faces. Adams found midfielder Taryn VanThof for a 20-second embrace and said her players could hardly speak to each other in the locker room.
Loyola (17-5) suffered a season-ending, 10-7 loss at No. 4 seed Syracuse (16-7) in the NCAA tournament quarterfinals Saturday. The defeat snapped Loyola's 16-game winning streak.
While midfielder Bailey Mathis held Syracuse Tewaaraton Award finalist Kayla Treanor to no goals, no assists and just one shot, attacker Halle Majorana buried the Greyhounds with three goals and two assists.
"I think we made it tough on them to hold Treanor," Adams said. "... On the back end of that, Halle Majorana scored some points on us and they were able to capitalize in other areas."
For the fifth straight season the Greyhounds made the tournament, but for the third time in those five seasons, the quarterfinal stood as the barrier.
Mathis has face-guarded Treanor for each meeting over the last two seasons, she said, and has started to pick up her tendencies. Treanor nearly single-handedly brought the Orange back in the two teams' last meeting, a 9-8 Loyola win two weeks ago. On Saturday, she could not separate from Mathis.
"They definitely weren't going to let her score," Syracuse coach Gary Gait said.
But Mathis could not prevent Treanor from setting screens. Syracuse often isolated a player outside of the 12-meter arc, sending Treanor to stand a few feet behind the attacking player. The picks drew the ire of Loyola fans, many of whom thought they were moving screens.
"The game is the game and there's a lot of subjective calls in the game of women's lacrosse," Adams said of the no-calls. "And they played within the rules. They weren't called, so more power to them if they're going to get away with them."
As Adams talked about the illegal screens, Loyola goalie Molly Wolf smiled and nodded. The screens worked on SU's first goal, allowing midfielder Loren Ziegler to cut to the net and score.
With 18:28 left, the Treanor screen helped SU take its final lead. Majorana cut around the screen, ripping a shot into Wolf's chest. The ball popped up and Ziegler batted it into the back of the net.
Goals by attackers Hannah Schmitt with 12:30 left and Kara Burke with 6:08 left brought Loyola back to a 7-6 and 8-7 deficit, respectively. Majorana finished the Greyhounds with goals of her own.
"Our first timeout we went over stepping off of the pick and then coming around," Mathis said. "I thought we did a good job. There's really not much you can do in that situation."
After the game, Adams walked to the sideline and put her hands on the back of her head. She sat down for the postgame news conference still bleary-eyed. Adams cried 17 seconds into it.
She chastised herself for not preparing the team better at the draw circle as Syracuse won 13 to Loyola's five. When she finished, senior Kara Burke jumped at the chance to defend her coach. Adams turned and smiled at her.
"It's tough for them because they feel like there's unfinished business," Adams said of her senior class. "We felt like we were on the cusp of things this year.
"It hurts, to be honest."