Fewer than 10 minutes into the second game of the season, the Syracuse field hockey team had a commanding 2-0 lead over visiting Northeastern. After two quick goals, the No. 8 Orange seemed poised to coast to another easy victory.

But for senior forward Kristin Girouard and the entire SU team, it wasn’t enough. It’s never enough.

After Northeastern closed the gap to one, SU didn’t panic. An offensive break led to a penalty corner and gave the Orange an opportunity to bust the game open.

A scramble in front following senior back Maggie Befort’s pass gave Girouard her chance, and she responded, slamming home a goal just more than one minute before halftime. That tally propelled the Orange (2-0) into halftime, and its persistent attack throughout led to a 4-1 win over the Huskies (0-2) in front of a crowd of 424 at J.S. Coyne Stadium on Sunday.

‘It was a great day and everyone worked hard, but we have a lot that we need to improve upon,’ Girouard said. ‘I’m never really satisfied with how I’m playing. I think that’s the cool thing about our team, that we always keep working hard and we expect a lot from ourselves and from each other.’

Expectations were high from the opening whistle on Sunday, and senior forward Shelby Schraden tallied the game’s first goal seven minutes in after a few quick passes in front of the net.

True to its style, SU was aggressive immediately after the goal, forcing a penalty corner and a second straight scoring chance. After two saves from the Northeastern goalkeeper, junior forward Heather Susek slipped one into the net on a pass from Girouard. Girouard’s goal later made the score 3-1, and the outstanding work from head coach Ange Bradley’s experienced starters helped carry the momentum into the second half.

‘With this team, it’s like training a professional group instead of a first-year team,’ said Bradley, who now has a career record of 54-13 at Syracuse. ‘They assured me today that they’re going to take care of things, and I’m proud of the way that they stepped up.’

The Orange kept up the intensity throughout the second half, protecting their lead while searching for new scoring chances.

With a little more than two minutes remaining, SU’s hustle forced another penalty corner, the team’s ninth of the match. Befort slid a pass through the middle to junior midfielder Martina Loncarica, who set up sophomore back Amy Kee for a blistering shot that deflected past the keeper for SU’s final goal.

The set piece conversions demonstrated SU’s fast-paced mentality. Continued pressure led to potential corners and scoring chances.  Senior forward Lindsey Conrad was the personification of this relentless approach, as it was her aggressiveness around the net that sparked nearly all of SU’s best opportunities.

‘Our overall team mentality is to attack and to keep the corners coming and the goals coming, so everyone knows their role and what our game plan is,’ said Conrad. ‘It’s really important that we keep the attitude that we want to win and we want to score goals.’

Though the offense’s pressure tilted ball control in SU’s favor, the defense rose to the occasion as well, surrendering a few turnovers but ultimately allowing only seven shots. Sophomore goalkeeper Leann Stiver made four saves on five shots on goal, including a big save on a Northeastern set piece a minute into the second half.

This marks the second straight game that SU has been tough on defense, as the Orange outshot Northwestern 33-2 in a 6-1 victory on Friday.

Syracuse’s two wins to start the season is exactly the start it needed with 11 of its next 12 games on the road. Bradley isn’t concerned about the road swing, as the team’s frame of mind is in the right place with two dominating home victories.

‘It’s been really good for our morale to go 2-0. That was our goal for the weekend,’ Bradley said. ‘I think it just comes down to motivation and sheer will. It wasn’t the prettiest game today, but the will of these seniors and these kids knows nothing else. They’ve accomplished so much over three years and they’re committed to getting a result.’

 

jakrakow@syr.edu