Syracuse field hockey head coach Kathleen Parker went into last night’s game against Cornell ready for a non-stop, high-speed matchup. Instead, she saw a meticulous chess match.

Orange senior Paige Sullivan scored the game’s only goal with 27:14 left in the first half on an assist from junior Ashley Fry, and Syracuse won, 1-0, at Coyne Field despite rarely possessing the ball in the second half.

‘We played well enough to win and that’s all we had to do,’ Parker said. ‘The pace of the game was so very different from what I anticipated. Everything was very calculated. We weren’t maintaining position very well tonight. We ended up playing more defense than I think we needed to.’

The Big Red kept play in the Syracuse back for most of the second half. Cornell had plenty of good opportunities to tie the game, but the Orange defense held firm and swarmed the cage area around goalie Heather Hess.

Cornell had four corners but could not convert the chances into a score. The Big Red had five shots, one fewer than SU. Hess made four saves.

‘(The defense) played awesome,’ Sullivan said. ‘They saved us. Heather had some really good saves in the goal. She saved us, too. They kind of made up for the forwards.’

When the Big Red possessed the ball, it would pass around looking for an opening. CU’s strategy effectively slowed the game to a walk – something Parker didn’t expect since Cornell boasts quick forwards.

The Syracuse backs cut off the path to the cage, denying Cornell’s forwards a clear opportunity to score. Multiple times an Orange player put her stick down to stop the ball before it reached the goal.

‘(The backs) did a good job marking and keeping (Cornell) out and getting to the loose balls when they had the chance,’ Hess said. ‘They were beating them to all the balls in the circle. They did a good job being there.’

Parker specifically pointed out SU back Michelle Sola, saying the junior looked exhausted on the field toward the end of the game. Not only did the Syracuse backs stop Cornell from scoring, but they would try to start the Orange offense once they gained control of the ball.

The backs controlled for the majority of SU’s possessions. Parker said the Orange needs to take that pressure off the backs in the future.

The Syracuse defense handled the pressure well, though. Through multiple Cornell attacks, the Orange regrouped and made sure the Big Red had no open looks at the goal.

‘We definitely kept our composure,’ Sola said. ‘The momentum of the game was slow. It wasn’t fast paced or anything. I wouldn’t say it was a bad game, there are some things we could’ve done better.’

Published on October 26, 2005 at 12:00 pm