Syracuse jumps 4 spots to No. 7 in weekly rankings, Hoffman earns ACC weekly honors

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Syracuse field hockey moved up four spots to No. 7 in this week’s National Field Hockey Coaches Association Poll. This weekend, after defeating North Carolina and Columbia — currently No. 9 and unranked, respectively — the Orange jumped from the No. 11 spot on last week’s poll.

Midfielder Carolin Hoffmann was also named the ACC Defensive Player of the Week after contributing to Syracuse’s pair of wins over the weekend. The graduate student was pivotal in the central midfield position for the Orange, connecting possession between SU’s offensive and defensive fronts as well as halting opposing counterattacks in both games. Hoffman is the fourth SU player to earn ACC weekly honors this season, following Pleun Lammers (offensive), Quirine Comans (offensive) and most recently SJ Quigley (defensive).

Syracuse’s (8-2, 2-0 Atlantic Coast) victory over North Carolina was the first time the Orange bested the Tar Heels in nearly six years. Before the game, SU hadn’t defeated UNC since the 2015 NCAA title game.

Comans threaded the needle for SU’s offense, assisting three of Syracuse’s five goals in the game.

North Carolina, led by Erin Matson with 15 goals and eight assists this season, had the second-highest average goals per game (4.56) in the country going into the ACC contest. But a collectively strong defensive performance from Syracuse thwarted North Carolina’s offense from finding the back of the net.

Despite uncharacteristic offensive struggles against Columbia, Syracuse secured a 3-0 victory later that weekend. The Orange shot the ball 22 times and earned six penalty corners. On the other side of the ball, SU limited the Lions to only one shot and didn’t concede a penalty corner across all four quarters.

The Orange have won six straight games and shut out their last four opponents. Lammers leads the Orange with seven goals and three assists, and she also leads SU in points with 19. Comans trails Lammers with 16 total points from five goals and six assists.