Syracuse head coach Ange Bradley hopes her team has time between classes on Tuesday to take ice baths. 

Monday night’s home-opening match against Lafayette was the Orange’s third in four days, and it showed in the first quarter. Syracuse started slow, often firing careless passes out-of-bounds or to adversarial sticks. The Leopards out-shot SU three to one in the first quarter and put the Orange in a 2-0 hole. 

“We weren’t connecting,” freshman forward Charlotte de Vries (one goal, one assist) said. “We weren’t passing stick-to-stick. Our defensive structure was off.”

Eventually, SU found its rhythm. The Orange out-shot Lafayette 12-0 after halftime. In addition to completely reducing Lafayette’s shot attempts, SU’s back line displayed more discipline in the second half, allowing zero penalty corner opportunities. Led by the defense, No. 18 Syracuse (3-0) came back against Lafayette (1-1) to win its third game of the weekend.

Trailing by two goals, Syracuse still wasn’t clicking at the start of the second quarter. Facing no pressure off the opening center pass, Carolin Hoffman knocked a pass to nobody in particular. Later in the quarter, midfielder Laura Graziosi’s pass bounced out of bounds as her intended target jogged off the field for a substitution. 

But late in the second quarter, de Vries found a rebound off a penalty corner and cut the Leopards’ 2-0 lead in half. SU entered halftime trailing 2-1 and still with fewer shots (six) than Lafayette (eight). Syracuse needed its back line, led by underclassmen Olivia Graham, Hailey Bitters and Marie Sommer, to step up. 

For the rest of the game, Lafayette didn’t put a shot on net. 

“We were able to move the ball and we settled down a bit,” Bradley said. “In the beginning, it was a hot mess. We were able to settle down and control the game.” 

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SU leaned on those underclassmen more than usual because senior captain Claire Webb is sidelined with a hand injury. Neither Bradley, de Vries nor Graziosi attributed the defense’s improved second half with any tactical changes, more so a change in mindset. 

“We just kind of all got together as a team (at halftime) and decided that we’re not losing this game,” de Vries said. She also assisted on sophomore Tess Queen’s game-tying deflection goal in the third period. 

Goalie Sarah Sinck, who made a career-high 11 saves in Sunday’s 1-0 win over UMass Lowell, only had to make three saves against the Leopards.

An interception to start the second overtime period allowed SU to pin Lafayette deep in their own corner. After stealing the ball out of the corner and rushing down the goal-line, Bitters sent a pass across the shooting circle for Graziosi, who finished it off. Because of a steadier back line, Graziosi said, the forwards had more scoring chances — including the deciding goal — in the second half and overtime periods.

With the 3-2 win, the Orange can enjoy their well-earned ice baths on Tuesday undefeated.

Published on September 2, 2019 at 10:29 pm

Contact Danny: dremerma@syr.edu | @DannyEmerman