Emma Ward emerged from behind the net and drove into Kennedy Major. Ward powered to her left side, stopped and whipped a backhand shot over her right shoulder into the top left corner of the net.

Ward’s score gave No. 6 Syracuse a four-goal first-quarter cushion. It cruised from that point on.

No. 7 Maryland women’s lacrosse struggled mightily in its season-opener, falling to the Orange at home on Saturday, 15-9. An Olivia Adamson goal gave Syracuse a lead less than four minutes in that it held firm control of over the duration of the game.

“We just need to do a better job sticking to our defensive game plan,” coach Cathy Reese said. “We were slow to make those adjustments. It took us until midway through the first half to kind of make the adjustments that we should have started out with.”

With the graduation of draw circle specialist Shaylan Ahearn, the Terps (0-1) had a hole to fill. Freshman midfielder Kayla Gilmore filled that spot almost flawlessly in the opening quarter, securing all of her first four draws.

Gilmore helped the Terps secure ten draw controls in the first half and forced Syracuse (2-0) to make a sub in the circle midway through the second quarter. But Maryland, with 11 freshmen added to its roster, struggled to convert on the draw control dominance.

Syracuse’s defense used various looks against the inexperienced unit, including multiple double teams. The Terps struggled to find passing lanes, resulting in four turnovers within the first eight minutes of the first frame.

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“I think we were a little frazzled by it,” junior midfielder Kori Edmondson said. “We’re a pretty fast team out there, and so as long as we just handle it and we just attack that, I think we’ll be better next time.”

While the Orange also boasted a roster of double-digit freshmen, they leaned heavily on their returners. Ward dominated in the opening quarter with five points.

The Terps quickly placed Major on Ward, but there was little difference. Ward continuously made her way to the front of the net en route to a hat trick. The graduate student wasted no time putting the Orange on the board in the second half, lofting a pass from behind the net to midfielder Caroline Trinkaus that extended their lead to 9-4.

While Maryland struggled to get production from its newcomers, Syracuse got enough from its freshman. Trinkaus, who recorded three points in her first collegiate game against Albany, netted a hat trick and four assists on just five shots on Saturday.

The Orange’s offense faced little resistance from sophomore goalkeeper JJ Suriano. Suriano, replacing former two-time Big Ten Goalie of the Year Emily Sterling, finished with a poor .250 save percentage in her first career outing.

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Reese briefly put in freshman Julia Ward in the third quarter, but she didn’t record a save and allowed three scores, which returned Suriano into the cage for the final frame.

“We didn’t make a ton of saves today,” Reese said. “Some of them we should have made. Some of them we just didn’t put our goalies in a great position.”

Suriano’s fifth goal allowed forced a timeout from Reese. Then, the Terps’ offense significantly improved.

Edmondson and senior midfielder Jordyn Lipkin struck less than 20 seconds apart, cutting Maryland’s deficit to two at the end of the first quarter. But the Terps never trailed by less than that over the rest of the game.

Edmondson was a lone positive for a Maryland offense that shot less than 33 percent. The junior, who entered the season on the Tewaaraton Award Watch List, tied her career high with four goals.

But the Terps didn’t have a consistent second option beyond Edmondson. They’ll look for a better showing on both ends of the field against Georgetown on Tuesday.

“Everything out there is something that we can change,” Edmondson said. “We can show up in Georgetown and be a whole new different team, right. So as long as we take that and we carry it on to the next game and we just don’t dwell on this game, then we’ll be perfectly fine.”