In Syracuse’s last four games, the first half has ended scoreless for the Orange. Against No. 16 Wake Forest (8-6, 2-3 Atlantic Coast) on Sunday, No. 9 SU (8-5, 1-4) was the first on the board. It would be the Orange’s lone goal in the 4-1 loss in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

SU started the first half strong, going against a season trend. In the first half, the Orange had six shots, and only two came off of corners.

One of those shots found the back of the cage. The goal came before the nine-minute mark, when sophomore Carolin Hoffmann found the back of the net. Her unassisted goal was her first official goal of the season. Hoffmann previously scored during a shootout at the end of the Penn game a few weeks prior, but because of the nature of a shootout, it didn’t count as a goal.

The second half saw a drop-off in SU’s offensive production. Syracuse had three recorded shots on three penalty corners and no shot attempts in open play.

While SU was unable to capitalize on its penalty corners, WFU did the opposite. The Demon Deacons used penalty corners to set up all four of their goals. Shorty after SU scored, WFU was awarded a penalty corner. Anne van Hoof shot, but was blocked. Quickly a second corner was awarded, but once again, the shot off it was unsuccessful. A third opportunity seconds later had more success when Jule Grashoff scored, tying the game at 1-1.

Five minutes later, WFU lined up for a second penalty corner. Once again, the Demon Deacons scored when van Hoof found the back of the net and sent SU into the locker room, down one.

It didn’t take long for Wake Forest to expand its lead in the second half. A penalty corner shot by Grashoff was blocked, allowing van Hoof to get the rebound and score. van Hoof scored the final goal as well, also off a penalty corner near the end of the game.

Of Wake Forest’s eight penalty corners, four made it past the SU defense.

The Orange will play in Syracuse on Friday for its last ACC game this season against Louisville.

Published on October 14, 2018 at 3:25 pm

Contact Kaci: klwasile@syr.edu