For 19 shots and 65 minutes, the seventh-most effective scoring team in the country was shut out.

That’s when Leonie Geyer accepted a Laura Hahnefeldt pass off a corner and rifled it into the bottom left of the cage to give Syracuse a 1-0 lead.

“That was a new corner that we practiced this week,” Geyer said. “Laura Hahnefeldt stopped the ball and she was supposed to pass it to me to the right to open up the space, and I shot the ball on goal and picked the right corner. Thank God we scored that.”

It was an exasperating day all around for the SU offense, which outshot Ohio State 14-0 in the second half on Sunday, but almost never scored. Geyer’s tally with 4:36 remaining saved the No. 6 Orange (6-0) as it edged the Buckeyes (2-4) late.

The game-winner was the second straight for Geyer, who also knocked in the decider in Friday’s 2-1 victory over No. 7 Massachusetts (6-1). The Orange has now won 38-straight home games dating back to 2009 — and a role change for Geyer has everything to do with it.

“I think Leo is the type of person that speaks softly and carries a big stick,” said SU head coach Ange Bradley. “We know she’s not going to be the vocal leader that we would like to have. She’s giving to us in a lot of other ways than just her voice.”

The second game-winner was the fifth goal of the season for Geyer, which ties her for second on the team behind Lauren Brooks. Geyer, who came into the weekend tied for the NCAA lead in assist per game, said that although her position is more primed to help assist on goals, she is making more of an effort to put the ball in the net this season.

“It’s definitely a new role,” Geyer said. “It’s a part of my game that I’ve been working on for quite a while. I love to pass, sometimes a bit too much. I really have to step it up and score and take some more shots.”

After Geyer’s goal, the Orange continued to dominate possession — an approach goaltender Jess Jecko described as a staple of the Orange’s game.

“We don’t want anyone in the circle,” Jecko said. “We try to move them outside the circle. We want to get the ball first. We don’t even want them to touch it inside the 25. So we body up on them and try to beat them to the ball.”

The defense helped set up the offense all afternoon. But it took until SU’s 20th and final shot attempt for the Orange to finally be able to exhale.

“It’s frustrating for everyone,” Bradley said. “That’s where you got to go back to film, and you got to go back to repetition. It’s going to be a real big focus for us in the week ahead.”

The midfielder now has two goals in the past two contests, and though she was admittedly excited, she refused to take credit for the wins.

“It feels really great,” Geyer said. “But it was a great team effort. We played well together on Friday, and we stepped up today in the second half. I’m glad we got two wins.”

Published on September 16, 2013 at 4:13 am

Contact Sam: sblum@syr.edu | @SamBlum3