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Tied 2-2, deep into overtime, Charlotte de Vries was awarded a penalty stroke, a golden opportunity to win the game. After a lengthy review, the officials confirmed the call. Eefke van den Nieuwenhof stepped up and slotted the ball past the goalkeeper for the win.

In a dramatic end-to-end game, No. 10 Syracuse (8-2, 1-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) defeated No. 12 Boston College (6-4, 1-2 ACC), 3-2 for its first conference victory of the season. The Orange bounced back after two straight conference defeats to Duke and Virginia. Syracuse outshot Boston College 21-8 throughout the contest.

The opening minutes of the game were sluggish, with rain earlier in the day weighing on the turf. Freshman Bo Madden had a bright start on both sides of the ball. Bo Madden broke up an early BC chance before creating Syracuse’s first big opportunity of the game a few moments later. Pieke van de Pas had an attempt that went wide of the mark, after being set up by Bo Madden.

BC wasn’t void of opportunities in the early stages. An ambitious shot from Eva Kluskens was easily saved by goalkeeper Brooke Borzymowski, and Klara Mueffelmann also whiffed at a great chance to take the lead not long after.

Shortly before the end of the opening quarter, Syracuse came very close to taking the lead off of its first penalty corner of the night. A powerful shot from de Vries was saved by goalkeeper Caroline Kelly, who cleaned up a potential rebound from Lieke Leeggangers.

Margo Carlin was Boston College’s biggest threat as the Syracuse defense tried to closely mark her throughout. Van den Nieuwenhof stopped her from finding space, but moments after de Vries came close to giving Syracuse the lead, Carlin drew a penalty corner off of a counter-attack.

On the second corner attempt, sophomore Mia Garber redirected Simone Hefting’s shot into the goal, dinking the ball over Borzymowski to give BC the lead 30 seconds before the end of the quarter.

Five minutes into the second quarter, a penalty corner play nearly brought Syracuse level. De Vries dealt the shot, which was saved, as was Leeggangers’ rebound attempt.

The danger from corners was a sign of things to come, as SU outshot BC 8-1 in the quarter. Midway through the quarter, Cato Schreinemacher inbounded the ball. After a few passes within the arc and a saved shot from Olivia Bell, Schreinemacher knocked the ball into the net for her first goal of the season, tying the game at 1-1.

The goal gave Syracuse momentum for the rest of the half. Bell came within a few inches of giving her team the lead off of another corner attempt, and in the final seconds of the half, an optimistic shot from van de Pas trickled wide.

Syracuse remained the dominant team coming out in the second half. Kelly had to make more big saves for BC to thwart Syracuse’s attempts including a pair of shots from Willemijn Boogert and van de Pas five minutes into the half.

In the final three minutes of the quarter, Syracuse pressed more aggressively. Leeggangers joined the attack and drew a penalty corner with 11 seconds left. It provided one more opportunity to break through and take the lead before entering the final frame. De Vries’ shot was saved, though, and despite Syracuse leading the quarter in shots 6-0, they couldn’t capitalize.

With tired legs in the fourth quarter, the game opened up. BC came out of their shell, and Garber nearly caught Borzymowski off guard with a long distance shot that bobbled awkwardly on the wet turf.

The pressing of Lana Hamilton and Sarah Smalley produced a quick-fire chance for Syracuse with seven minutes left, but Smalley missed the target. A minute later, Borzymowski was forced to make a huge defensive stop, stepping off her line as a sweeper to prevent a one-on-one chance.

The ensuing counter-attack handed Syracuse the lead. Bell, who was making her first start since the opening weekend of the season, ripped a shot which gave Syracuse the lead with five minutes remaining.

Boston College didn’t give up. They pulled their goalkeeper with two minutes remaining, and shortly after, drew a huge opportunity with a penalty corner. Carlin was left wide open and unmarked inside the arc, allowing her to equalize and send the game to overtime. Carlin’s finish was one of just two second half shots for the Eagles, but it was enough to keep them alive.

With the “sudden death” nature of overtime, both teams took less risks and were cautious towards not making a mistake. Syracuse had chances, with Leeggangers, de Vries, and Bo Madden all carrying the ball into the attacking area of the field, but tired legs combined with worsening weather prevented them from threatening the goal.

Less than two minutes into the second overtime period, Syracuse were granted the chance to claim victory. De Vries’ shot was impeded, a violation that earned her a penalty stroke. Van den Nieuwenhof, known as a penalty shot specialist, did what she does best, and scored her ninth goal of the season to win the game for Syracuse.

Published on September 29, 2023 at 4:32 pm

Contact Alex at alcalabre@syr.edu