Syracuse found itself in an unfamiliar position — trailing Loyola by four with just 15 minutes left to play. To that point in the game, the Orange had only scored four goals and its shooting percentage was 16.7 percent.

But in the final 15 minutes, it was Kayla Treanor that made the game competitive again.

First it was a free-position goal. Then it was a backhand shot from barely in front of the net. Thirty seconds later, she scored again.

In the past six games, 10 of Treanor’s 16 goals have come after halftime, including two game-winners in overtime and three in the final five minutes of regulation. All season long, she’s been the Orange’s most dangerous offensive threat and recently, she’s been making the big plays in the most important parts of games.

She’ll be counted on again when No. 4-seeded SU (14-7, 3-4 Atlantic Coast) takes on Pennsylvania (14-4, 6-1 Ivy) in the second round of the NCAA tournament on Sunday at SU Soccer Stadium at 1:30 p.m.

 

“It’s a lot of pressure on one person,” Syracuse head coach Gary Gait said, “and I love to see kids that can step up and handle it.”

Midway through the season, Gait said Treanor was overthinking on the field. As the junior garnered more defensive attention than any other time in her career, she was working on adjusting. In 5 games this season, she’s failed to score a goal. Since then, she has adjusted. Treanor has nearly as many assists in her last six games as she did in her previous 15 and is averaging more goals, too.

Gait said she’s peaking at the right time.

“I think most great players when they’re in a groove or when they’re playing well, they just play, they’re not thinking,” Gait said. “They do their mental prep well before, they visualize, they see themselves playing, they get on the field and things just happen and I think that’s kind of where she’s at.”

In high school, Treanor was also face guarded and double teamed, except she adjusted to it more quickly. While the process has taken longer, Niskayuna (New York) High School head coach Peter Melito predicted she would break out.

“She’s going to just battle through (the tough defenses) and she’ll be fine by the end of the season,” Melito said in late March.

SU has played in 11 one-goal games this year, which Gait said is the most of any season that he’s coached, and Treanor’s play deep in the second half plays a significant role. While Syracuse is just 6-5 in one-goal games, SU has won two of its last three — the loss coming against Loyola, when Treanor scored three times in the last 15 minutes.

This year, half of SU’s starting attack was new and its midfield was revamped after graduating two of its starters. Now that players have settled into their roles, the whole team is benefitting, Treanor said.

“Being mentally prepared, which I think has been the difference for all of us,” Treanor said of what’s changed recently. “Other people stepping up and playing well. You look at other people doing well and it’s contagious.”

After Penn beat Albany in the first round of the NCAA tournament, the Quakers said they had already been preparing for Treanor throughout the week, even without a guaranteed matchup. Penn head coach Karin Corbett said one day wouldn’t be enough to get ready for one of the nation’s top attacks.

But regardless of the stats she’s put up in the latter half of the season, in the NCAA tournament every game is just about surviving a potential end to the season.

“I don’t really care at the end of the game what my stats are,” Treanor said. “I just care about a win. I think they’re pretty irrelevant. I think it’s just important if we win and if I can contribute then I will.”

Published on May 9, 2015 at 1:17 pm

Contact Paul: pmschwed@syr.edu | @pschweds