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Midway through the second quarter, all No. 6 Virginia could hope for was that Kate Mashewske’s stick was illegal. Following three draw control wins from Mashewske, No. 4 Syracuse scored three goals to extend its lead to 12-1. So, the Cavaliers requested a stick-check on SU’s all-time leader in draw controls.

After the referees tested Mashewske’s stick’s pocket depth, they deemed it legal. Upon receiving her stick back from a referee, Mashewske performed a Michael Jordan-esque shrug before high-fiving her teammates. Moments later, she helped the Orange win their 12th of an eventual 22 draws.

“Kate is very elite. She is the best draw specialist in the country,” SU head coach Kayla Treanor said postgame.

Propelled by its draw control dominance, No. 1 seed Syracuse (14-4, 8-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) blew out No. 5 seed Virginia (14-4, 6-3 ACC) 19-4 in the ACC Tournament semifinals. The Orange won 22-of-25 draws with Mashewske winning a game-high 16. SU’s +19 draw control differential was its best all season, booking it a trip to the ACC Tournament title game for the first time under Treanor’s tutelage.

While the subtractions of Meaghan Tyrrell and Megan Carney — SU’s all-time points leader and leading 2023 scorer, respectively — are the most notable differences from last year’s team to this year’s, Mashewske is the most prevalent addition.

Seven games into her senior year, Mashewske suffered a season-ending lower-body injury. While the Orange’s draw unit thrived without Mashewske as their 63.3% draw control percentage ranked No. 6 in Division I last season, the team has reached a new level with Mashewske back.

Entering its contest against the Cavaliers, SU’s 67.8% draw control percentage ranked No. 4 in D-I while Mashewske’s 157 wins ranked No. 7 in the nation.

“(Mashewske’s) definitely one of our biggest leaders on the team and watching her, how much effort and all the work that she puts in really influences the rest of us,” Emma Tyrrell told ACC Network postgame.

Though in her return from injury, Mashewske struggled to begin the season.

In the Orange’s season opener against No. 1 Northwestern, their draw control hampered them early on, leading to an 18-15 loss. Because of the early deficit, Mashewske was replaced by Olivia Adamson in the circle before returning later in the game. Still, SU couldn’t muster any success, winning 13-of-37 draws.

Despite coming off back-to-back games with double-digit control wins against then-No. 2 Notre Dame and Duke, Mashewske’s draw control inconsistencies plagued SU in its 13-12 overtime loss to Stony Brook on March 5. The Orange’s loss dropped them to 3-3 through six games — already matching their 2023 loss total.

While Mashewske bounced back with 11 wins in the Orange’s ensuing 15-5 win over Virginia Tech, she was held to just four against North Carolina and five versus UAlbany. Against the Great Danes, Mashewske’s early struggles prompted Treanor to insert Adamson into the circle for the only time besides the season-opener.

But over her last nine games, Mashewske has been one of, if not the best, draw control specialists in the country. Over that stretch, she’s averaging 12.55 draw control wins per game, which would rank No. 2 in D-I only behind Jordan Dean’s (UMass) 14.73.

The opponent Mashewske’s hot streak started against? Virginia.

In Charlottesville on March 27, the graduate student exploited the ACC’s worst draw control unit and won a season-high 18 draws, which helped the Orange pull out a narrow 15-14 win. Two games later against Louisville, she was so dominant that the Cardinals asked the referees to check her stick.

Coming off 16 draw control wins — helping her become the ninth D-I player to accumulate 500 career draw controls — against Louisville in the quarterfinals, Mashewske ignited Syracuse’s fast start in the semifinals. After flipping the opening draw up to herself, Mashewske passed the ball behind her, letting her teammates set up the offense. A minute later, Adamson scored the first goal of the game.

On the ensuing draw, Mashewske again popped the ball up to herself. This time, she sprinted toward UVA’s defense before finding Tyrrell. After gaining possession, Tyrrell darted down the field before dishing to Adamson in front of the cage. Thirteen seconds after her first score, Adamson buried a behind-the-back shot to give SU a 2-0 lead.

“I feel very lucky to coach her, I think she is one-of-one right now,” Treanor said of Mashewske.

Though Mashewske went 1-for-2 on the following draws, Syracuse commanded a 4-0 lead just five minutes into the game. This prompted UVA to replace freshman Kate Galica in the circle with Kiki Shaw. But Shaw was just as helpless as Galica, losing 7-of-8 draws. In that time, the Orange extended their lead to 10-1.

This forced the Cavaliers to make another switch in the circle, as Lauren Pederson was called upon to attempt to slow Mashewske down.

Mashewske carved Peterson on their first bout. After flicking the ball to herself, Mashewske stormed down the field. Trailing the play, Tyrrell broke free from her defender and Mashewske hit her in stride before she extended Syracuse’s lead to 11-1 at the 9:31 mark of the second quarter.

After Emma Ward extended SU’s lead to 12-1 two minutes later, UVA — trailing in the draw 11-2 at that point — tried silencing Mashewske by getting her stick checked.

While Mashewske’s gaudy results may have looked like she was cheating, there was nothing illegal about her actions and her business continued as usual. From there, the Orange lost just one draw as they steamrolled by UVA to advance to the ACC Tournament title game for the first time since 2021.

“I told (Mashewske), ‘You’re actually just one-of-one’ because she is an absolute cheat code,” Savannah Sweitzer told ACC Network postgame.

Published on April 26, 2024 at 10:43 pm

Contact Justin: justingirshon@gmail.com | @JustinGirshon