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Just inside the shooting circle, Carly Bothof cut right against a Louisville defender and lined up for a shot early in the fourth quarter. Bothof swung, missed and collapsed to the turf as the referee’s whistle blew — the defender had tripped her. She immediately jumped in the air and threw both hands up in celebration, having earned a penalty stroke for Syracuse.

After a team huddle and a booming “Here we go Lo” chant from a Syracuse player on the sideline, Laura Graziosi took two steps and fired the penalty into the bottom left corner. Now up 2-0, her teammates rushed from midfield to celebrate with her. The goal gave the Orange security against then-undefeated Louisville. 

Syracuse (4-3, 3-2 Atlantic Coast) secured its third-straight win during the first home game Friday afternoon at J.S. Coyne Stadium. In a game that featured scrappy offensive play for both teams, especially in the first half, the Orange found a way to capitalize on limited scoring opportunities against Louisville. Graziosi’s penalty stroke, a rebound goal from forward Charlotte de Vries and strong, aggressive defensive play handed the Cardinals their first loss of the season, 2-1. 

“It was just a full team effort from front to back,” head coach Ange Bradley said postgame. “When we don’t have the ball, we all defend. When we have the ball, we all work to attack.”

Midway through the third quarter, de Vries broke the deadlock for her third goal of the season. On Syracuse’s third penalty corner in a span of three minutes, SJ Quigley’s insert pass found Graziosi, who controlled the ball to set-up an Eefke van den Nieuwenhof shot. But when she unleashed the shot, it didn’t find the net — the Louisville goalie was lying down across the cage’s opening. 

The ball bounced off and trickled toward de Vries, who positioned just off the right post. With a much better angle than her teammate, she could hear midfielder Carolin Hoffman screaming to shoot, de Vries said. de Vries did just that, firing the shot at the near post. 

“Last year, I loved my rebound goals, so when I saw the ball come off the rebound it kind of was like déjà vu of last year’s goals,” de Vries said. “I shot it and yeah, it felt awesome.”

Her goal was a tangible payoff during a spell for the Orange’s offense, which recorded five of its nine shots and two of its five shots on goal during the third quarter. Scoring first gave SU a needed boost that drove it for the remainder of the game, de Vries said. She also earned the penalty corner which she scored on, juking a defender to draw a foul.

Early in the season, de Vries was the point player and was most often the highest player upfield for SU. But on Friday and in the Orange’s 2-1 win against Wake Forest on Oct. 19, de Vries dropped into a deeper, midfield role. Midway through the second quarter, an assistant coach yelled “Char, drop,” and de Vries fell all the way back to her own end, beginning to transition between Syracuse’s defense and offense. 

“She’s understanding a new role and playing our system and keeping the ball moving,” Bradley said. “I’ve seen an incredible amount of maturity and ownership and leadership in Char over the last four or five games, so this is where we want to see her.”

Playing mainly on the right side during the first half and on the left during the second, de Vries collected passes from her defenders and moved the ball upfield, trying to connect with Bothof, who was SU’s highest player with de Vries pushed back. 

Aside from Bothof’s penalty stroke, she saw very little action, as the Cardinals’ defenders intercepted most passes aimed in her direction. Particularly in the first half, the freshman couldn’t hold the ball for long enough for her teammates to move upfield. 

From the sidelines, Bradley and other assistant coaches yelled directions at Bothof, instructing her to better apply pressure on the Louisville defenders and cut off their options so they couldn’t pass backward. As the first half ended and Bothof was walking off the field, she told an assistant that she was “too far away” from the ball during the last play. Early in the game, Bradley shouted “Where’s the ball, Carly?” to get her forward more involved.

During the first two periods, Syracuse and Louisville tussled for territory and scrambled the ball back and forth near midfield for much of the time. Few passes were connected near the opponents cage — the first 30 minutes featured three total shots.

In the final minutes, Syracuse conceded a goal to Aimee Plumb and was a van den Nieuwenhof goalline save away from blowing their lead. After Plumb’s goal, Bradley yelled, “Field position, 2:37” at her players. Teammates shouted to “close the game.” de Vries, who by then had switched back to forward, dropped to defend. 

The bench counted down the last five seconds and then charged the field, mobbing van den Nieuwenhof and goalie Syd Taylor in celebration. The Orange had hung on for an upset win in their first and only home game of the year. 

“The last two weeks we’ve been working a lot on ourselves and our patterns of play,” Bradley said. “To see them find a way to get it done is really great and exciting.”

Published on October 30, 2020 at 7:07 pm

Contact Roshan: rferna04@syr.edu | @Roshan_f16