A year ago, Liz Hogan made goaltending one of Syracuse’s strengths. With Hogan gone, the burden of trying to replace such a standout goalie fell upon Kelsey Richardson and Alyssa Costantino.

Neither one holds the responsibility on her own. And in the Orange’s season opener against Boston College, both made it clear SU won’t be experiencing too much of a fall off.

‘We’re a tandem,’ Syracuse head coach Gary Gait said. ‘Maybe some days one goalie plays the whole game or a split. We don’t know. The good thing is they’re backing each other up. There’s no backup. They’re both starters.’

In Tuesday’s 23-12 win over the No. 8 Eagles in the Carrier Dome, the inexperienced goaltending duo didn’t seem to take much of a step back from what Hogan provided last year. Each goaltender allowed just six goals in their respective half of play while showcasing unique skill sets.

Costantino was impressive from the start for the Orange, making her first save of the season just 32 seconds into the opening half.

But just minutes later, Boston College scored its first free-position shot. It appeared to be more of the same for SU after allowing 45 free-position goals a year ago. Then, Costantino became more of a force in the cage.

The sophomore stopped the next three free-position shots she faced, including two within a three-minute span with less than 13 minutes remaining in the first half.

‘It definitely keeps you up and wanting to keep saving and just keep it going,’ Costantino said.

Those stops helped give Syracuse momentum at both ends of the field for the rest of the game.

A major part of the sudden success on the free-position shots is the presence of Brett Queener. The goaltender for the Hamilton Nationals of Major League Lacrosse and the Philadelphia Wings of the National Lacrosse League joined the Syracuse coaching staff as a volunteer assistant this spring tasked primarily with training the two goaltenders.

‘You can’t expect that every time,’ Queener said. ‘The biggest thing is on the free-positions they anticipate and read the shot before the girl actually releases it.’

Costantino also continuously forced Boston College into taking bad shots.

In addition to her six saves on 12 shots, Costantino made the Eagles shoot four more wide of the net by not sitting back and waiting for the attack to make the first move.

Instead, the goaltender would take a few steps out of the net to cut off the shooters’ angle, pressuring them to make the next move.

‘Communication with the defense (helped), and I’ve been watching a lot of their shots all week,’ Costantino said, ‘so knowing where they’re shooting and baiting them to one side or the other helped a lot.’

As impressive as Costantino was in the first half, Richardson may have been even better in the second. Both goaltenders allowed six goals, but Richardson made nine saves and saved four of five free-position shots.

And she did that in her first game of her career.

Richardson knew she was going to be nervous before her first game. Fortunately, it didn’t take long to quell those nerves.

Less than three minutes into the second half, the goaltender had her first career save.

From there it was smooth sailing.

‘Coming into this game, I was a little nervous,’ Richardson said, ‘but once I got that first save it just builds your confidence, and every one after that just builds your confidence.’

Richardson was also vital for SU’s offense with her clearing passes. The freshman completed all five of her clears, including one in the final minutes when she directed the offense up the field to set up a goal for SU attack Kailah Kempney that extended SU’s lead to 21-12.

Though it was just a garbage-time goal, it shows Richardson’s confidence after less than 30 minutes of play.

‘The goalie, just as a player, has to be a leader out there,’ Richardson said. ‘I’m a very vocal person, and I just feel like I came out and I played my game and forgot about what happened on the last play and just did what I could to help our team.’

dbwilson@syr.edu