No. 8 Syracuse bests Sacred Heart 6-1 in season-opener
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At the 11:59 mark of the first quarter, Syracuse lined up for a penalty corner with Cato Schreinemacher set to insert the ball. Off the pass from Schreinemacher, Pieke van de Pas put a shot on goal that was initially deflected off the foot of Sacred Heart goalkeeper Samantha Maresca. Directly off the rebound, Olivia Bell was right beside the net to punch it home for Syracuse.
All afternoon, the offense for No. 8 Syracuse (1-0, Atlantic Coast), led by Charlotte de Vries and van de Pas, overpowered Sacred Heart (0-2, Northeast Conference) en route to a 6-1 season-opening victory. The Orange applied pressure from start to finish, leading the Pioneers in shots on goal 21-3.
At the neutral site of Moulton Winder Field, in Burlington, Vermont, Syracuse scored first just over five minutes in. Van de Pas, a new addition from the Netherlands, sent a ball toward the goal that was tipped by Aiden Drabick. It got past Maresca to put the Orange up 1-0, a lead they would never squander.
Six minutes later, van de Pas’ shot was deflected by Maresca before Bell finished the play, putting Syracuse up 2-0 to end the opening quarter.
Despite each team creating three penalty corner opportunities across the first 15 minutes, Syracuse outshot Sacred heart 10-1 and was more aggressive early on.
To open the second quarter, the Pioneers came out with a sense of urgency. Just under five minutes into the quarter, SU goalkeeper Brooke Borzymowski was put on her heels after a strong shot from Cassie Chapjian, but Borzymowski deflected the ball out of the air to make the save.
Syracuse took the ball down the other side of the field, where Lieke Leeggangers put a shot right on goal but Lizzie Mendrzycki made a difficult stop in front of the open net with Maresca on the ground. Coming off the save, the Pioneers took the ball down to SU’s zone and forced a penalty corner.
Abby Lauer inserted the ball to Jaden Ray, who then fed Ally Frampton for Sacred Heart’s first goal of the game.
Syracuse responded promptly as de Vries powered a shot by a sliding Maresca for her first score of the season. The goal by de Vries also helped her eclipse the 100-point career mark, ranking sixth most in program history.
At the half, Syracuse led 3-1, with the Orange leading in shots 16-3, despite Sacred Heart forcing one more penalty corner.
Not allowing Sacred Heart to get back into the game, it was freshman Sarah Smalley who scored with her back to the goal off an assist from de Vries, giving SU a 4-1 lead with 13 minutes to go in the quarter.
Despite the deficit, Maresca and the Pioneer defense remained resilient for much of the quarter. Syracuse forced back-to-back penalty corners at the end of the third as Maresca was there to stop both attempts. By the end of the game, Maresca had registered 14 saves, a new career high.
The Syracuse attack proved too strong, as Bell scored her second goal of the contest, this time off a pass from Leeggangers just before the end of the quarter.
In the fourth quarter, sophomore Abby Neitch made her collegiate debut, replacing Borzymowski. However, the Orange’s defense led by Eefke van den Nieuwenhof was too strong and kept the ball distant from their part of the field for the final 15 minutes of play.
