Roos Weers let a hard pass go from beyond the arc with about 40 seconds remaining in the first half . To count as a goal, it would need to take a deflection inside the arc. Sarah Luby found the right spot and deflected the ball high and over the keeper Gianna Glatz for a goal.

“I saw Roos setting up for an inside pass,” Luby said, “so I just stepped in front and got a stick on it and saw that it went in.”

Luby was one of three new starters from Saturday’s lineup for No. 3 Syracuse (8-1, 1-1 Atlantic Coast) in its 4-0 win over No. 24 Rutgers (5-3) Sunday afternoon at J.S. Coyne Stadium. Chiara Gutsche scored as a new starter, and the third new starter, Jamie Martin, contributed to the defense’s shutout in the back.

On Saturday, SU lost to No. 16 Wake Forest, 2-1. The Orange’s win and shutout streaks ended. SU head coach Ange Bradley used lineup changes and a more aggressive press to shutout and defeat Rutgers.

Luby and Gutsche, making their first starts of their careers, were keys to the Orange’s game plan at the front of the home team’s formation. Both slotted in as forwards and, from the first whistle of the match, pressed the Rutgers backline. Along with the other SU forwards, Gutsche and Luby didn’t allow the Scarlet Knight defenders time to pick their heads up and find openings.

“We did have a press coming in,” Luby said. “I think we did pretty well in the press.”

Luby showed her eye for goal again in the second half, coming within inches of a second tally. Gutsche drove down the right wing and crossed toward Luby in the middle of the shooting arc.

With a defender trying to push her off the spot, Luby got her stick to the ball and sent it trickling toward the left side of the goal. Glatz was beaten but one of her defenders got to the ball, just in front of the goal line, at the same time as Syracuse’s Laura Hurff. Rutgers cleared the ball off the line and a penalty corner was awarded. 

“It felt really nice to start and be given an opportunity to score a goal,” Luby said. “Work as a team and put out on the field what I’ve been working towards.”

Gutsche added the first goal of her Syracuse career with just two and a half minutes left in the game to make it 4-0, SU. Rutgers had pulled its keeper with 5:45 left, inserting a kicking back — essentially an extra field player. Off a transition after a Rutgers corner, Hoffmann passed to Gutsche near the goal. She had just one defender to beat to score. The freshman slotted the ball into the back right of the goal for her first goal of her collegiate career.

“I was kind of scared to miss,” Gutsche said. “But when it touched the board I was pretty happy about that.”

Coming off its first loss of the season, Bradley’s changes weren’t limited to the players in the starting lineup. Elaine Carey spent a lot of time in central midfield after playing forward most of the season. Jennifer Bleakney became part of the forward platoon that rotated throughout the game.

Bradley, hoping to “manage (substitutions) a little better than (she) did yesterday,” tried to allow her more experienced players to mix in more with the newer ones. Thus, the substitutions came often for SU on an 80-plus degree day.

Claire Webb was pushed into a midfield role when Martin spent time at right back, as well. Webb had played alongside Lies Lagerweij and Weers in the back for much of the season.

The changes, based on the scoreboard, worked. Luby and Gutsche made their first starts and scored. Martin stifled Rutgers attacks with takeaways at least four times in the first half. And the game ended with a win and a shutout.

“(Luby and Gutsche have) been doing a really nice job on the scout team at practice and they’ve been showing me that they’re picking up what we’re working on,” Bradley said. “I wanted to be able to reward them with that and they came through today.”

Published on September 17, 2017 at 6:05 pm

Contact Billy: wmheyen@syr.edu | @Wheyen3