Syracuse couldn’t get much offense going for the beginning of its game against Louisville on Friday. That led to more physical play on both sides, more talking between opposing players and more chatting with the refs.

“It was very emotional, there was a lot of aggression,” said Lies Lagerweij, who scored the game-winning goal. “We knew it was going to be aggressive and in the moment there was nothing we could really do about that. You just got to be strong an if they are aggressive, we have to also come out aggressive”.

No. 4 Syracuse (9-1, 3-1 Atlantic Coast) bested No. 7 Louisville (9-2, 1-2 Atlantic Coast) in a 2-1 overtime thriller Friday afternoon at J.S. Coyne Stadium. Lagerweij provided the winner in overtime after being awarded a penalty stroke for a foul committed by Cardinals goalie Ayeisha McFerran.

Syracuse gathered many more chances in the second half and a large part of it was due to the officials’ ability to take control of the game and limit the aggression that plagued the team in the first half.

Syracuse head coach Ange Bradley also commented on the game’s physical play with the Orange not making much progress in the first half.

“With our ability to open the field and find holes, it puts ourselves into contests a lot with teams and that creates the aggressive tackling and that type of play,” she said.

Deep into the overtime period, a push from behind by McFerran allowed SU to take a penalty stroke. The Orange sent in its goals leader, Lagerweij, to take the shot for the win.

“I just couldn’t watch,” Bradley said of one of her best players stepping into the circle for that game-deciding shot. “It’s one of those things. It’s just nerve-racking.”

Lagerweij connected on the scoring opportunity to record her ninth goal of the season. She was ready for the moment because of the preparation she puts in for these kinds of situations.

“We always take strokes and make jokes that it’s the last minute of the game and today I actually had that chance,” Lagerweij said. “We’ve jokingly done this, but I think it really helped because we do this so many times in practice. You just need to decide where to put it and you just need to full-on go for it.”

Published on September 30, 2016 at 8:02 pm

Contact Michael: mmcclear@syr.edu | @MikeJMcCleary