Borg van der Velde had to go all out, but only briefly.

During an 18-second span in the first half against Ohio Sunday, the freshman denied three shots in rapid succession from the Bobcats attack.

To preserve her season-long clean sheet, the freshman dove right to block a shot. While sprawled out, van der Velde saved a second and third attempt by the Bobcats, elevating her left leg to about the middle of the net in a successful last-ditch effort.

It was an unusual lapse from SU’s back line, but van der Velde preserved the shutout.

“She’s a great goalie,” junior Jennifer Bleakney said, “so I hope she’s gonna keep that up as long as she can.”

Timely work from van der Velde has kept opposing offenses silent as No. 5 Syracuse (5-0) has yet to allow a goal through five games. But she hasn’t done it alone. SU’s defense limits opponent’s chances by controlling possession and feeding the ball up the field to the offense and occasionally relying on van der Velde to make saves as its last resort.

“It feels really good,” van der Velde said of the shutouts. “I haven’t had that many shots against me.”

Through five games, she has only had to make six saves — three against unranked Ohio and three at No. 25 Pacific. But even in situations when she’s not necessarily making saves, van der Velde has still protected the arc.

A handful of times in Syracuse’s home opener against Bucknell, van der Velde left the cage to clear a ball rolling inside the arc. Those plays weren’t recorded as saves, but they prevented any chance of a cheap scoring opportunity.

“Athletic, great personality, great energy,” SU head coach Ange Bradley said. “A really good communicator, which is very hard to find. Those were key things with me.”

When things are breaking down on the back line, the freshman begins barking orders to get the defense settled. Aside from facing 12 shots against Pacific, SU opponents have combined for nine shots. Bucknell didn’t record one. Of all the shots given up by SU’s defense this season, six have been on goal. The Orange itself has nearly as many goals (16) as total shots faced (21).

SU’s ability to control the ball for long periods of time catalyzes its dominance. Running the offense through two backers, Lies Lagerweij and Roos Weers, the Orange swings the ball side to side before flinging a pass up the wings. This strategy allows SU to regulate play for long stretches, preventing any shots toward van der Velde.

“We really just focused on keeping the ball in possession,” Weers said after shutting out Bucknell on Saturday, “and if we are calm, it’s just easy.”

Published on September 5, 2017 at 10:35 pm

Contact Andrew: aegraham@syr.edu | @A_E_Graham