Charlotte de Vries fiddled with the ball and prepared to shoot, but nearly lost it. As multiple California defenders swarmed the SU freshman in the early moments of the second overtime, de Vries turned her back toward the cage. Other SU players cut toward the play, but de Vries pivoted one final time and smacked a shot at Bears goalie Cato Knipping.

Everyone on the Syracuse sideline raised their arms in unison. SU players further down the field stormed Cal’s net. Moments after de Vries’ eighth shot of the game hit the back of the cage, the Orange formed a huddle outside the striking circle with another extra-time win secured.

For nearly a quarter, SU wasn’t in position to have an overtime winner. By the time 15 minutes ticked off the game clock, the Bears already had a two-goal lead and six penalty corner chances. But a comeback manufactured by the Orange (8-2, 1-1 Atlantic Coast) over the next two periods allowed them to escape with a 4-3 double-overtime win over Cal (3-7, 0-1 Pacific 12) to open up their two-game West coast road trip.

After knocking off No. 2 Duke last Friday, the Orange jumped five spots in the Penn Monto/NFHCA Division I Coaches Poll. de Vries’ double-overtime goal completed Claire Cooke’s game-tying one to provide all the scoring the Orange needed.

Yet behind that upset win was a statline reading 28 shots for the Blue Devils, and only 11 for the Orange. For a large portion of the game, Duke peppered SU goalie Sarah Sinck with shots and forced the freshman to dive from post-to-post in the cage.

“The bigger picture is you gave up 28 shots,” head coach Ange Bradley said after Wednesday’s practice. “That says kind of a lot about your line, and we’ve got to get better.”

Friday’s game against Cal started awfully similar, if not worse. The Bears scored on their first shot of the game, when Megan Rodgers knocked the ball past Sinck just 28 seconds in. Four minutes later, their lead doubled. Lindsay Mathison corralled a pass off a penalty corner, and thrust a ball past Sinck’s outstretched right leg. SU rarely held possession during the opening minutes, and outlet passes were reversed by Cal, pinning the Orange once again.

But then Syracuse started to chip away. In the final minute of the first quarter, de Vries poked in a shot in off a steal for her first goal. Sarah Luby tallied her first of the season less than a minute into the third quarter. SU started to challenge the Bears for possessions and established offensive attacks consistently in the middle quarters, aspects that lacked in the first.

With two minutes left in the third, SJ Quigley trotted to the end line and knocked the ball to the insertion hash. California players fitted masks on their heads while Quigley stilled the ball with her stick, and Syracuse broke its penalty corner huddle to await the pass.

de Vries received the ball on the right side of the cage and bounced the ball into the back of the net. She flung her arms up in celebration, and, on the sideline, Bradley and associate head coach Allan Law clapped along. The goal gave the Orange their first lead of the game, officially countering the damage that a poor first quarter inflicted.

The lead held up for only eight minutes, however. Redshirt senior Katrina Carter’s tally in the fourth tied the game again, and that deadlock continued into extra time. With time winding down in the first overtime, sophomore Laura Graziosi led an attack with numbers, and directed a streaking Quigley toward the cage. But Quigley’s shot was saved by Knipping, and her rebound attempt sailed wide.

But none of that mattered when de Vries backed herself into the shooting circle and set up her reverse hit — the freshman’s “signature” shot, high school coach Megan Smyth called it. The early deficit. The lack of possession in the first quarter. The late goal by the Bears in the fourth.

de Vries knocked in her ACC-leading sixth game-winning goal of the season and ensured the Orange entered Saturday’s matchup against No. 16 Stanford (6-5, 1-0 Pacific 12) with a win. Like she had so many other times this season, SU’s offensive focal point again carried the Orange when they needed it most.

Published on October 4, 2019 at 9:39 pm

Contact Andrew: arcrane@syr.edu | @CraneAndrew