Get the latest Syracuse news delivered right to your inbox. Subscribe to our sports newsletter here.

With 33 seconds remaining in the second overtime period, Virginia lined up for its ninth penalty corner of the game. Daniela Mendez-Trendler inserted the ball into the top of the shooting circle to set up the Cavaliers attack. Lauren Kenah played the ball for Jans Croon who took a shot towards the net.

UVA’s Adele Iacobucci laid her stick on the ground in order to deflect the shot. Croon’s effort deflected off Iacobucci and past Syracuse goalie Brooke Borzymowski to give the Cavaliers a 3-2 lead.

Virginia’s third, and game-winning score, was also its third off a penalty corner. UVA capitalized on its penalty corners despite finishing the game with four less than Syracuse (6-2, 0-2 Atlantic Coast Conference). The Orange’s inability to thwart the Cavalier (6-3, 1-1 ACC) set pieces was what ultimately decided the top-ten matchup.

In the first half of the match, Virginia was far more effective offensively than Syracuse. The Cavaliers led in shots by an 11-4 advantage and penalty corners by a 7-2 advantage. Due to the immense pressure on SU’s backline, Virginia jumped out to an early lead.

UVA’s first goal came within eight minutes of the opening whistle on its second penalty corner of the contest. Mendez-Trendler passed the ball from the baseline to the top of the attacking circle. Emily Field waited at the top of the circle for the delivery and laid it off to Noa Boterman who blasted a shot toward goal.

Borzymowski dove across the crease to make a save. Mendez-Trendler, who started the attack, was positioned perfectly to receive the rebound. She sat unguarded at the goal line to tap the ball into the net, giving the Cavaliers a quick 1-0 advantage.

“It wasn’t the first phase of the penalty corner,” head coach Lynn Farquhar said about UVA’s prowess on converting off of missed opportunities. “It was kind of the scrappiness that happened afterwards.”

Virginia’s attack continued with the persistent pressure in the second quarter. Three minutes into the quarter, the Cavaliers set up its third penalty corner.

The insert was played to the top of the shooting circle before a shot attempt ensued. It breached SU’s first line of defense, forcing Borzymoswki to parry. The rebound bounced back to the middle of the circle and both team’s went for the loose ball.

Boterman eventually collected the ball and fired a left-swinging pass across the circle to the right post where Laura Janssen lay waiting. Janssen collected possession and easily directed it into the net, doubling UVA’s advantage. Once again, Syracuse’s lack of awareness off of a rebound allowed the visitors to slot home a goal.

“Once you get in positions like that, it becomes more transition play,” Farquhar said. “The defensive unit did a great job with the first and second phase, it was the scrappiness off of it.”

By the end of the second quarter, the Cavaliers had tallied five penalty corners to Syracuse’s one. They also totaled seven shots while the Orange recorded just two.

Despite the 2-0 deficit early on, Syracuse battled back throughout the game to keep it competitive. The Orange answered with a goal of their own two minutes after Virginia’s second to make it 2-1.

In the second half, SU flipped the script and took over the offensive battle. After trailing by a large margin in shots and penalty corners, the Orange evened both out in the final 30 minutes of regulation.

“The second half is when we really started to dominate,” Farquhar said.

Though SU totaled five penalty corners in the fourth quarter alone, it failed to score. By the end of regulation, Syracuse led in penalty corners with 11 to Virginia’s eight and led in shots by a 16-14 margin. Following a scoreless third quarter, SU’s attack finally broke through to even the game at two after a Pieke van de Pas backhander with 11 minutes remaining.

After a scoreless first overtime period, Virginia garnered its game-winning penalty corner at the 79:33 mark. The penalty corner was the Cavaliers’ first since the opening half. Despite the short number of second half opportunities, UVA was efficient with its chances to hand Syracuse its second loss in three games.

Published on September 22, 2023 at 7:11 pm

Contact Aiden at: amstepan@syr.edu | @AidenStepansky