Syracuse’s season was beginning to spiral. Two double-overtime wins against then-No. 2 Duke and Cal were followed by a loss against Stanford. Then, defeats to No. 1 North Carolina and No. 13 Boston College. A three-game losing streak threatened to turn a once-promising season for Syracuse — a roster yearning for a return to the NCAA tournament after missing it for the first time since 2007 — into a missed opportunity.

But against Connecticut on Sunday, that turned around. The Orange mitigated a substantial gap in penalty corners. They contained a deficit in shots. And, in the end, SU found a way to secure a second top-five win this season. Charlotte de Vries and Claire Webb tallied goals in penalty strokes, leading Syracuse (9-5, 1-3 Atlantic Coast) to a 1-0 victory over the No. 3 Huskies (13-3, 5-0 Big East) in Storrs, Connecticut.

After last year’s 3-0 loss to the Huskies, Syracuse head coach Ange Bradley called UConn the “gold standard” of field hockey. At the time, it hadn’t lost a game since 2016. Despite four loses to end last year and three so far this season, the Huskies still represented one of the toughest matches on the Orange’s schedule this season.

For the majority of four quarters and two overtime periods, the Orange were dominated statistically. UConn outshot Syracuse 24-8 and had 12 more penalty corners than the Orange. But despite the differences, a defensive battle ensued.

SU goalie Sarah Sinck, the ACC leader in saves per game, added 11 saves to her season total. Sophie Hamilton, Abby Gooderham and Svea Boker combined for 16 UConn shots, double SU’s total, but Sinck turned them all aside. A backline that had improved against Boston College after giving up 54 combined shots in the previous three games allowed its second-highest total of the season against the Huskies. 

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On the offensive end, de Vries and Laura Graziosi accounted for four of the Orange’s five shots on goal, but two of SU’s top-three point scorers couldn’t create any opportunities that ended with goals.

After 80 minutes of play, Syracuse entered penalty strokes for the first time this season, its most recent coming on Sept. 23, 2018 against Penn. After Webb and de Vries knocked shots into the back of the cage, Gooderham and Marie Auer’s errant shots sandwiched a Carolin Hoffmann miss to seal the Orange win.

With the win, the Orange remain in contention for the 16-team NCAA tournament. Syracuse returns to J.S. Coyne Stadium for its final two home games of the season, facing Wake Forest on Friday before a rematch with Cornell on Sunday. The Big Red knocked off the Orange 2-1 on Sept. 7, behind two early goals in the first 20 minutes. 

Published on October 20, 2019 at 5:26 pm

Contact Andrew: arcrane@syr.edu | @CraneAndrew