Asa Goldstock got set in her position and tapped the back end of her stick once and then again off the crossbar. She clenched her fists and in the split second before the referee blew the whistle, she locked in.

Syracuse had its first lead of the game and on the ensuing shot, she wasn’t ready to give it up.

Not yet.

“I watched a lot of film on them and on their shooting. But, they’re good shooters,” Goldstock said. “Luckily, I have some even better shooters in practice shooting on me.”

Goldstock’s season-best performance ignited No. 8 Syracuse (4-1, 0-1 Atlantic Coast) in a 17-15 win over No. 4 Florida (4-2). The sophomore had 14 saves and stepped up in positions the Orange needed her to, dominating free-position opportunities and making big saves in big moments of the game.

Despite her confidence in her preparation, Florida proved to be no easy test for Goldstock. UF had the ninth-ranked scoring offense in the country entering the game (16.0 goals per game) and its best performances have come against ranked-teams, putting up 17 goals apiece on then-No. 3 North Carolina and then-No. 23 Loyola Maryland.

Before Wednesday, Syracuse and Florida ranked 4th and 5th, respectively, in free position percentage. But Syracuse had scored only 16 free position goals to Florida’s 24, with Gators’ senior Shayna Pirreca and junior Lindsey Ronbeck combing for 18 of those goals.

All season, it had been the goalies that have suffered at the hand of the Gators’ dominant free-position attack. But, on Wednesday, that changed. Goldstock allowed two goals on 10 opportunities, as the Orange was able to gain momentum by being bailed out even after committing penalties.

“I thought Asa stepped up her game,” SU head coach Gary Gait said. “14 saves. Huge, huge game.”

Her impact on the game wasn’t exclusively in the net, though. On one save late in the second half, she walked the ball out by the 30-yard line, scanned the field and found an SU player flashing upfield. She fired a looping clear which set up a shooting space penalty for SU. Attack Nicole Levy pocketed the ensuing free position shot.

After that, she walked the ball toward midfield on every opportunity and panned for open teammates, who were simultaneously cutting towards the goal.

“Asa can handle it herself,” freshman midfielder Sam Swart said. “We did a very good job on clears and Asa was our quarterback.”

Goldstock was the first person to take the field out of halftime. Carrying nine lacrosse balls in her stick, she ran out to her second-half cage, dropping the balls in the center of the yellow circle in front of the goal before taking her position. She took shots from her goalkeepers coach, Matt Palumb, starting at different positions in the circle to emulate a free position shot in-game. She watched a few go by, but she kept trying. Again and then again she dove for shots in the turf, making a big last save and jogging off the field to her team, still readying to exit the tunnel.

Just like the first half, Goldstock was prepared and the second half brought much of the same results. Each of her six saves in the frame was bigger than the last, as the Orange started to take control of the game.

Even when the offense caused her to turn her back and watch a majority of the early-second half from the large screen behind the goal, she remained a vocal leader on the field for Syracuse. On defensive possessions, her volume persisted. On almost every play, her voice could be heard louder than anyone on the SU side of the field.

With fewer than 30 seconds to go before the buzzer and with Syracuse down a player, Florida got another chance at a free position shot. Goldstock held her stick straight out to her right and this time she opted not to tap, but to slam her stick against the pole three times — CLANK! CLANK! CLANK! — before getting set.

It was the Orange’s final stand of the game. Just seconds remained and SU held a two-goal lead, but one getting by could’ve put SU in a precarious position.

“You’re never really comfortable until the final buzzer goes off,” Levy said.

The Florida player stepped up and took the shot, hitting nothing but the netting of Goldstock’s stick. Just like that, Goldstock and Syracuse were in the clear. Even as the pressure heightened and the ball ended up more frequently behind her, Goldstock still knew one thing for sure: she’d make the stops when it counted.

“Save it,” she said of her mentality on Wednesday.

So, she did.

Published on March 7, 2018 at 6:41 pm

Contact Michael: mmcclear@syr.edu | @MikeJMcCleary