Despite strong 3rd quarter, Kimber Hower’s shortcomings lead to quarterfinals loss
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After allowing nine goals in the first half, Kimber Hower opened the third quarter with four saves, including two on free position shots. Following a turnover from Bianca Chevarie though, Dylan Amonte cut down the center of the 8-meter and sent a backhanded shot at Hower.
Hower stood upright, moving her stick towards Amonte’s attempt. But she was too late, dropping her stick to her side as the ball found the top right corner of the net. Three minutes later, the Wildcats moved fast in transition with Sammy White taking the ball the length of the field.
White then flipped the ball to Lauren Gilbert, who took two steps before firing a bullet towards Hower. Hower kept her stick high, unable to stop Gilbert’s shot from finding the top left corner of the cage. She hit her stick against the cage of her helmet in frustration while the Wildcats’ extended their lead to eight scores.
In the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals, No. 5 Syracuse (15-6, 6-2 Atlantic Coast) fell 15-4 to No. 4 Northwestern(16-4, 5-1 Big Ten) with Hower making seven saves on 22 shots-on-goal. After heading into the game with the 88th-best save percentage in the country (.378), Hower finished with a .318 save percentage in the Orange’s final game of the season, demonstrating the season-long struggle of Syracuse’s goalies with replacing Asa Goldstock.
Goldstock finished her career as Syracuse’s all-time saves leader, holding her place in the cage since her freshman year in 2016. With multiple options to replace Goldstock this season, head coach Kayla Treanor said the team would rely on a two-goalie system with Delaney Sweitzer and Hower splitting game time.
“(Hower and Sweitzer) do a lot of work on their own outside of practice,” Treanor said earlier in the season. “So right now we’re giving them both the opportunity to play and play free.”
Hower eventually got the starting job, but SU had a similar experience against Northwestern as it did in the ACC Tournament quarterfinals, leading to its earliest exit from the competition since 2018 in an 18-goal loss to Virginia. The Orange’s save percentage had plummeted to .335, ranked 110th out of 117 Division I schools.
Against the Cavaliers, Syracuse switched Hower out for Delaney Sweitzer at the start of the second quarter after Hower had allowed nine goals in a quarter-and-a-half. At first, Sweitzer kept Virginia scoreless for the remainder of the first half, but the Cavaliers didn’t take a lot of shots since the Orange controlled most of the possession. UVA eventually found success against Sweitzer, scoring nine more times by the end of the game.
Similar to the Virginia game, Hower struggled early versus the Wildcats, only picking up her first save with less than two minutes left in the first quarter. But Treanor elected to keep Hower in for the entirety of the game, following her 11 save performance against Princeton which advanced Syracuse into its matchup against Northwestern.
Specifically, Hower struggled stopping shots from the free position from the Wildcats, allowing three scores. In the first quarter, Northwestern earned two free position opportunities, finding the back of the net twice against Hower.
On both attempts, the Wildcats’ ran the same play — streak inside from the left side of the 12-meter and keep their stick high for their shot. Hower tried to mimic Jill Girardi and then Lauren Gilbert’s movement, leaving her stick high to block any high shots. But on both attempts, she was still unable to shift her stick in time with Girardi and Gilbert scoring easily.
Gilbert’s shot hit the back of the net as the first quarter buzzer sounded, finding the right side of the cage while Hower guarded the left.
Hower’s tendency to stay upright allowed Northwestern to shoot low and find the back of the net. At the start of the second quarter, Hower didn’t change her play while Leah Holmes charged at the cage from the right side. Holmes kept her stick high while Hower came out of the crease upright. Holmes immediately shot low, bouncing the ball between Hower’s legs. Hower fell to the ground and the ball went into the net to give the Wildcats a 7-2 lead.
Hower improved slightly in the second half, able to stop some of the Wildcats’ momentum after they moved fast in transition following big defensive stops. Treanor said that the defense, and Hower, played well to keep NU to only six scores in the final two quarters.
After a successful clear from Northwestern five minutes into the third quarter, Gilbert charged right at the cage. Hower came out of the crease briefly, but she fell to ground as she did so. The ball hit Hower’s leg, allowing her to trap the ball on the turf for her second save of the period.
“She made some big saves in the second half at times when we needed them,” Treanor said.
Still, Northwestern bounced back with scores from Amonte and Gilbert towards the end of the third quarter before getting the ball back again in the final seconds of the period. Following Gilbert’s woman-down score, the Wildcats got possession after Girardi won at the draw circle.
Girardi fired a shot at the cage, missing wide as Hower ran to the backline to try and stop the ball from going out of bounds. Instead, Girard got possession for the Wildcats. Starting from behind the cage, Girardi ran to the front while Hower sprinted back to her position from the other side. Hower got to her spot in time, but Girardi still scored past her with less than two seconds left on the clock.
After adding to their lead throughout the fourth quarter, the Wildcats got the final possession in yet another period. Hannah Jonhson stood with the ball on the right side of the 12-meter with a few defenders in front of her and less than 10 seconds left on the clock. As time winded down, Johnson charged at the cage, cutting through a few defenders before bouncing the ball past Hower’s outstretched stick.
While Northwestern stormed the middle of its field after clinching its third straight Final Four appearance, Hower fell to her knees. This time it was much more emotional.
“She came up with some saves in the third quarter, but we were able to close it out toward the end,” Northwestern head coach Kelly Amonte Hiller said.