Nicole Levy couldn’t keep the smile off her face. All game, she had brought the energy. Her thunderous roars awakened a seemingly disorganized SU team. She emulated power, flexing and stomping her feet after an assist. Spiking her stick after a goal. But, on the play that brought the smile to her face, she showed finesse, wrapping her stick behind her back and shooting the ball into the back of the net.

After multiple long runs, it was a sigh of relief for Syracuse, who seemed to be on its way to disaster.

“It was just some jitters,” said sophomore goalkeeper Asa Goldstock of the early game struggles.

Syracuse (1-0), fueled by multiple strong runs and a dominant second half, defeated Connecticut (0-1) 23-11. After starting the game allowing two-straight goals from the Huskies offense and going to the half only leading by one, SU flipped the script of the game that was created in the early going.

“Calm down,” Emily Hawryschuk said, “come out for the second half.”

A loss was as improbable as it was unprecedented. The Orange have never lost a season opener under Gait and, in all 17 previous matchups with the Huskies, have never lost. But, in the early going it suddenly seemed possible.

The tension started to show early on in the game. Morgan Widner, who was seventh in the nation in draw percentage last season, lost her first six draws of the match. The Huskies pushed ahead, scoring two goals in just 1:24 to start the game.

“It really started on the draws,” Gait said. “We just weren’t effective.”

Following the quick second goal by Connecticut, a different mob of teammates stood side by side. UConn all converged in celebration of the goal and Syracuse huddled around goalkeeper Asa Goldstock, with a teammate on the ground next to them. The Orange needed to regroup.

After a short run where it showed promise, and with the game tied at four, a UConn player waltzed directly adjacent to the goalkeepers circle and bounced the ball into the goal for an easy score. Goldstock took a step out of the net and panned her head around at her teammates, looking for answers. They didn’t have any. SU found itself behind again.

As the Orange continued to get knocked down, it showed little signs of getting back up. But, that changed. Midway through the first half, Alexa Radziewicz got knocked to the ground following a two-handed push with the stick of a UConn player. She tumbled over backward, but popped up immediately onto her feet, hopping a bit as she gained her footing. The penalty gave Syracuse an opportunity and after that play, just like Radziewicz did, SU rebounded.

Still, the Orange suffered another setback and found themselves up just one at the half. Despite the close score, Gait said he was never nervous about if his team would never find its way.

That confidence proved worthwhile in the second half. Out of the locker room, SU made their presence known. It ripped seven-straight goals at the start of the half and built a comfortable lead that it never looked back from.

“We were in the mindset, we were going to keep scoring and scoring,” Gait said. “And we weren’t going to stop.”

Levy lead the charge for the Syracuse offense. She tied the team lead with five points, scoring three and assisting two. She was toying with the Huskies, who started the day seeming intimidating while threatening the upset. Time and time again in her biggest moments, Levy spiked her stick to the ground. But her gesture wasn’t out of frustration, but rather elation. As she did, the Orange followed. SU’s sticks started to hit the ground more frequently in the second half as it pushed ahead further and further.

“I don’t know,” Levy laughed of her intense emotion. “It’s just really fun, I guess.”

In the preseason, Gait said Syracuse would “reevaluate” its team following its earliest exit from the NCAA tournament. With that, Gait set goals to improve SU in every aspect. The goalkeeping needed work: Syracuse had the lowest save percentage in the ACC (.407). The defense needed improvement: SU gave up the second-most goals in the conference last year (12.0). And the offense needed more firepower to push ahead in games: the Orange again ranked in the bottom-half of the conference (sixth) with an .86 scoring margin.

But, in the second half, all that was different. Goldstock played a near perfect set, the defense allowed just three goals and the offense pushed the margin to 14-3 in the period. For that reason, the result, as it always has in the season opener under Gait, remained the same.

“There was still a lot of game left,” Goldstock said of her team’s early deficit. “I knew that we would step up.”

Published on February 9, 2018 at 7:42 pm

Contact Michael: mmcclear@syr.edu | @MikeJMcCleary