Borg van der Velde’s parents traveled over 3,000 miles to watch their daughter make history on Friday.

Her parents are in the midst of a week-long trip to America, in which they’ll watch their daughter play two games this weekend. On Friday against Duke, the SU sophomore had one of the best games of her career. She recorded 11 saves, a career high. Van der Velde’s reflexes and shot blocking kept the Orange within one for the entire afternoon, even as No. 12 Syracuse (3-3, 0-2 Atlantic Coast) lost 1-0 to No. 4 Duke (4-2, 1-0 ACC).

Syracuse failed to produce a shot for the first time in the Ange Bradley era, while Duke peppered the Orange cage with 21 shot attempts. Entering Friday, the Orange conceded an average of 10.8 shots per game. Of those 21 shot attempts against the Blue Devils, 12 made it on goal, one hit the post, and one found the back of the net.

Duke scored its lone goal midway through the first period. After that, SU’s goalkeeper tightened up. With Syracuse’s passing lethargic, van der Velde’s reflexes were as fast as ever. In both halves she made saves with every body part and her stick.

“In the moment, it’s about making one save at a time,” SU head coach Ange Bradley said. “She kept us in the game, obviously.”

With Duke on its third penalty corner 15 minutes into the game, van der Velde made a left foot save to deny Rose Tynan off a set play. The rebound found a Duke stick, and the ball cycled back to the top of the circle. Once there, Morgan Bitting tested van der Velde again, this time top shelf. Van der Velde stepped forward and reached to block the shot with her left blocker.

Duke’s waves of attacks kept coming. Every time SU turned it over, the Blue Devils ran rampant on the counterattack. She covered all 12 feet of the width of the cage for her third save, sprinting to her left to block a shot attempt and smother Libby Thompson’s attack.

It was Duke’s sixth shot, and fourth on goal that found the breakthrough. Caroline Andretta weaved through two SU players, then played a pass into Thompson, who then passed forward to Leah Crouse. Van der Velde had no choice but to come out and attack Crouse. Crouse then slotted it back across goal to Andretta, who had made the 50-yard run to position herself front and center.

Andretta tapped the ball into the SU net. Even after the goal, the Orange never responded.

“I trust our defense but Duke had a really good offensive set,” van der Velde said.

In the final minutes of the first half, SU faced another pulse of Duke chances. Van der Velde helped fight off two penalty corners late in the half, one while laying on the ground. The ball careened off the foot of senior back Roos Weers, and the Blue Devils had another corner.

Another corner, another save from van der Velde. This time with her right shin pad. The rebound came back to Andretta, who shot well high.

Five minutes into the second half, van der Velde found herself on the turf at J.S. Coyne Stadium again. This time, however, the shot had elevation. As the ball flew towards her, she reached her pad on her left hand up, blocking the shot off the goal line.

Her dad, among others, cheered her name as she then shielded the ball long enough to draw a foul on the Blue Devils. Fifteen minutes later, Andretta tested the goalkeeper again. Van der Velde made two saves, Duke had two shots blocked, and another attempt hit the post. She reached out her right leg about as far as she could stretch it, kicking the shot attempt wide. Then she used her stick to deny another chance. Duke pressed on and on trying to double its lead, but it couldn’t find a second.

Van der Velde broke a Syracuse record today. A record that she doesn’t want.

“I’d rather not have a career high in saves,” she said. “I’d rather have zero shots and zero goals.”

Published on September 14, 2018 at 8:58 pm

Contact Anthony: amdabbun@syr.edu | @AnthonyDabbundo