Two minutes and 10 seconds into Syracuse’s first game of the season, freshman goalie Asa Goldstock let in her first goal. Boston College’s Mary Kate O’Neil bounced the ball past Goldstock, putting the Eagles on the board with a 1-0 lead. Almost a minute and a half later, Sam Apuzzo came around the back of the net and got a second shot past the SU goalie.

It took close to 15 minutes for the Eagles to find the net again.

“A big motto on our team this year is three-second memory,” Goldstock said. “Those first two goals, can’t even tell you what they were.”

No. 5 Syracuse (1-0, 1-0 Atlantic Coast) opened its season with an 18-8 victory against No. 17 Boston College (2-1, 0-1 Atlantic Coastal) on Saturday afternoon. In Goldstock’s first college game, she posted 10 saves and let in just eight goals.

Goldstock’s first save came with 22 minutes left in the first half. BC’s Taylor Walker wound up for a shot but got knocked over by SU defenders and was awarded a free position shot. From the free position Walker shot the ball but it never found the back of the net, landing in the freshman goalie’s stick instead.

“Asa needed to get her first save,” head coach Gary Gait said. “She got her first save, she settled down, the defense settled down.”

Syracuse had 35 fouls that led to eight free position shots for the Eagles. Out of those eight shots, which come with no one between the goalie and the shooter, BC was only able to make one. Two went wide, one was high, one hit the post and three were saved by the freshman goalie.

The one that went in was a late first half shot by Apuzzo. Standing in front of the goal, she drew her stick back. Firing it forward, the ball sailed over Goldstock’s shoulder, cutting the SU lead to 8-6.

Later, with just one minute left in the half, BC ‘s Kaileen Hart wound up another shot. The ball left her stick flying straight towards the goal where it landed directing in the pocket of Goldstock’s stick. She ran out and passed the ball up field. After a successful SU clear, Gait called a time out. With 19 seconds left, that clear by Goldstock turned into a Devon Parker goal to put the Orange up by 3 before the break.

“We got that timeout at the end, we got the ball back,” Gait said. “It was nice to see the team execute, finish the half with a goal and take control back.”

With a little more than five minutes to go in the game, Hart shot on goal again. Goldstock moved her stick, knocking the ball out of the way. Her final save of the game.

“I thought our team in general had such a great game for having such young players out there,” Riley Donahue said.

Published on February 11, 2017 at 5:15 pm

Contact Kaci: klwasile@syr.edu