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After passing back and forth between teammate Haley Buffenbarger, Vermont defender Meg Weyer looked to start any form of attack for the Catamounts three minutes into the third quarter. Syracuse midfielder Clara Morrison, holding her stick with only her left hand, placed immediate pressure on Weyer as she moved closer to the halfway line. The incoming pressure from Morrison forced Weyer to make a frantic pass to freshman defender Sophia Drees. Morrison immediately deflected the pass and Orange midfielder Laura Graziosi got into a scrum with Drees, resulting in a side-in for U of V. 

Drees whiffed on the side-in and Graziosi was once again there to control the ball. Syracuse’s counterattack saw Graziosi, Pleun Lammers and Florine van Boetzelaer pass to each other, leading to a backhand shot from the left side of the shot circle by the senior midfielder. It deflected off Catamounts’ goalie Sierra Espeland’s leg pads and went into the net, increasing the Orange’s lead to four. 

The Syracuse (2-0) defensive pressure and ball control was relentless against Vermont (1-1) in the 6-0 victory. The Orange rarely relinquished possession of the ball, and whenever they weren’t in control, it didn’t take long for them to get it back. The first corner and subsequent shot for the Catamounts came with 9:43 left in the final quarter, and that turned out to be their only corner of the game.

On Friday against Sacred Heart, Syracuse allowed only two shots all game, with just one of the shots fired toward the goal. It was the first time since 2017 the Orange recorded back-to-back shutout victories to start the season. 

In 2020, SU had a 1.88 goals-against average, putting it in the middle of the Atlantic Coast Conference. Syracuse head coach Ange Bradley, who was on the sideline for the first time this season after serving a one-game suspension, said the Orange showed remarkable defensive structure and great passing across the field. 

“We kept possession, we moved the ball well on the field early because of our quickness and smart passes,” Bradley said. 

Through long powerful passes, reigning ACC defensive player of the year Eefke van den Nieuwenhof was able to keep Vermont on its half of the field and give Syracuse possession. 

Catamounts’ forward Alina Gerke dribbled past SU defenders and progressed to the halfway line almost two minutes into the second quarter. After Syracuse back Sienna Pegram batted the ball away from Gerke, it rolled right to van den Nieuwenhof. Gerke didn’t give up on the play and immediately pressured van den Nieuwenhof, but the All-ACC defender was able to make a long pass back to Clara Morrison. 

The long pass from van den Nieuwenhof to Morrison did not just help the Orange remain in possession of the ball, but it also served as a reset to start up another attack. The ensuing attack led to Syracuse’s first corner of the game, where the Orange took a 1-0 lead off of a shot from van den Nieuwenhof. 

Later, with 65 seconds left and SU already leading 6-0, van den Nieuwenhof was in the Orange’s shot circle where she sent a bullet pass down the field to Morrison. Without much pressure from Vermont, Morrison only needed to take a few steps to be in the attacking zone. 

Van den Nieuwenhof said postgame the Orange had great communication between the backs, which helped keep the team on offense for most of the game. 

“We have a lot of speed on our team,” van den Nieuwenhof said. “We were able to have a lot of quick restarts and had a lot of quality players in the front and that made our counter-attack dangerous.” 

Syracuse’s possession control made it easier for its two goalies, Louise Pert and Brooke Borzymowski. Pert played in the first half and never saw a Vermont shot, spending most of the time observing the action on the other side of the field. 

When Borzymowski came in the second half, the goalkeeper made a diving stop to her right against the Catamounts’ first and only corner. While Vermont had some chances in the second half, Borzymowski relied on her teammates to make the stop. 

Bradley said that, at this point in the season, the team is focused on improvement and competition within themselves, not a specific opponent. Even after the first quarter against Vermont, Bradley found that the Orange needed to pick up space and move quicker to control the ball. 

“We picked our moments to attack which made me happy in our performance and that’s a big area of growth from last year.” Bradley said.

Published on August 29, 2021 at 9:32 pm

Contact Henry: henrywobrien1123@gmail.com