COLLEGE PARK, Md. — In the stands at Maryland’s Field Hockey and Lacrosse Complex, Ange Bradley saw some of the same players she coached at the beginning of her career, at Goucher College (Md.).

She worked the same sideline where her mentor and former boss, Missy Meharg, coaches the Terrapins. Bradley was in her second home.

“You always got to think it’s your weekend, right?” Bradley said.

After knocking off the No. 1 team in the country in North Carolina on Friday, her Orange dominated the defending national champions Sunday — in every way but the scoreboard. Fourth-seeded Syracuse fell a goal short and mere inches wide, losing to third-seeded Connecticut, 1-0, in the national championship Sunday afternoon.

It left Bradley with the best postseason run of her SU career and a team that’s almost entirely returning next season — happy facts she said she won’t be able to think about for a couple weeks.

“We wrote the last page of our history for the 2014 season and I think all of us would have a different ending, but we did make history,” Bradley said.

In the second half of Sunday’s game, Bradley didn’t have to venture far from her bench. SU’s attack had UConn locked into its own defensive half.

She only had to take a few steps toward the sideline to urge Lies Lagerweij forward or tell midfielder Lieke Visser to do the same — “Get in the circle, friend,” she shouted.

With 21 seconds left, Bradley reminded captain Emma Russell that she could ask the referee for a review of the Orange’s upcoming penalty corner if it didn’t go in. The shot was blocked, but Russell never asked for the review.

“I just — was focused on the ball,” Russell said.

Right in front of Bradley, a 25-yard shot from Visser with 11:29 left struck the tire on the outside of UConn goalkeeper Nina Klein’s goal. Lagerweij dribbled through the Huskies’ defense with ease and Russell led an SU forecheck that never left the defending champs breathe in the second half.

Russell is tied for sixth in the country with .91 goals per game, and is just a junior. Visser is 10th in the country with .77 assists per game, and she’s a freshman. Lagerweij, also a freshman, made the NCAA all-tournament team.

“No. 9, the Dutch center back, she just was a lock on the door,” UConn head coach Nancy Steven said.

As Bradley talked among her assistant coaches and watched the UConn players collect the national championship plaques her players all but won, the team that stood in front of her won’t look much different from the one she starts coaching again in the spring.

Before this weekend, Bradley had never advanced past the national semifinals.

There were only three seniors — Kati Nearhouse, who also earned all-tourney honors, Jordan Page and Lauren Brooks — to say goodbye to afterward. Bradley’s Orange had pulled itself out of an 0-3 start to ACC play, largely on the backs of underclassmen.

None of that mattered in the moments following the Huskies’ victory against the run of play. Just the loss and, eventually, starting over in January.

Said Bradley: “It’s just numb right now.”

Published on November 23, 2014 at 5:08 pm

Contact Jacob: jmklinge@syr.edu | @Jacob_Klinger_