No. 10 Syracuse scores in final 2 minutes to defeat Hofstra 1-0
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Syracuse was awarded a penalty stroke with under two minutes to go in the game. Laura Graziosi stepped up for the Orange, slotting the ball past Hofstra goaltender Merlijn van der Vegt to give Syracuse the first score of the game.
“You need to have confidence that you’re going to score, otherwise you won’t score,” Graziosi said.
In No. 10 Syracuse’s (7-1, 1-0 Atlantic Coast) 1-0 win over Hofstra (3-5, 0-0 Colonial Athletic), the Orange’s offense dominated throughout the game and secured the victory. Syracuse couldn’t score until the fourth quarter while the Pride only notched one shot on the day. The Orange outshot the Pride 18-1 on the afternoon.
The game started off comfortably for Syracuse as it once again took control over possession early. When Hofstra did get control over the ball, the Orange instantly pressured them with multiple defenders. They worked the ball downfield repeatedly during the first quarter, which put a lot of pressure on the Pride defense. This led to Syracuse racking up five shots in the first quarter and two penalty corners.
Syracuse only allowed one shot (not on goal) and one penalty corner. The Orange defended long passes from Hofstra, giving Syracuse goalie Brooke Borzymowski a relatively quiet opening period.
“We really focus on putting pressure on the ball and I think we did okay with that,” Graziosi said.
The second quarter started the same way the first quarter ended. During the first half, it seemed like the ball spent the vast majority of time in Hofstra’s end of the field. But this did not materialize into any goals throughout the first half of the game as the Pride was able to escape from any near-goal scenarios.
On the other hand, Hofstra had very little going for it on offense. Syracuse defenders continually intercepted passes from Hofstra and limited the amount of time that the Pride had with the ball.
But Syracuse wasn’t able to find the back of the net. It seemed like whenever the Orange did get a chance to get a goal, they made a poor progressive pass, losing control over the ball or allowing Hofstra defenders to make a good play.
The third quarter began much of the same way that the entire first half had gone. Syracuse worked the ball down into the Hofstra end of the field a several times but weren’t able to score. At times it seemed like Syracuse players were out of sync with each other, missing passes they had made in past games.
“We tried to make quite a few [adjustments], but for whatever reason they weren’t in the mindset to change it,” head coach Ange Bradley said.
Syracuse began to get closer to finding the back of the net midway through the third quarter when Joy Haarman slapped the ball just above the right corner of Hofstra’s goal. But the third quarter ended with both teams still knotted at 0-0.
The fourth quarter began with Syracuse having accumulated 11 total shots along with three penalty corners, but neither team throughout the first 45 minutes of the game could find their way past the opposing team’s goaltender.
As the fourth quarter went on, the story was the same as the previous three. But Graziosi put home the game-winning goal, placing the final dagger.
