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No. 14 Syracuse (4-1, 0-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) survived a late Lafayette (4-2, 0-0 Patriot League) scare, winning 2-1. For most of the contest, SU’s defense was bend-don’t-break. Lafayette’s aggressive style of play, along with the number of times it had control of the ball deep in Syracuse territory, forced 16 penalty corners. The tally was five more than the previous high the Orange had surrendered in a single game this season.

Vera Hekkenberg, who came in relief at goalie for Louise Pert at halftime, made a series of clutch saves to keep the Orange up one. Hekkenberg made lunging save after lunging save, including coming up with a key block with her outstretched leg on the Leopards’ 12th penalty corner attempt. Head coach Lynn Farquhar was proud of the defensive effort her team showed.

“Our defensive penalty unit stepped up strong over and over and over again,” Farquhar said postgame. “Our first runners, whether it was Lieke (Leeggangers) or Bo (van Kempen), were so brave.”

As well as Syracuse’s defense played, there is only so much a goalie and defense can do. On the 16th penalty corner and 15th total shot on the afternoon, Lafayette finally broke through and found the back of the net with three and a half minutes to go in the game. Even with the Leopards finally getting one past Syracuse’s goalie duo, Farquhar understood that you can only hold down the fort for so long.

“A goal went in. It’s going to drop if you give that many corners against,” Farquhar said.

After a stellar defensive performance, the game was tied at 1-1. It was one of those games where one feels like they have full control of the game, yet the score said otherwise.

Syracuse’s offense had fallen asleep since Bo Madden’s penalty stroke goal with eight and a half minutes to play in the first quarter. The Orange needed to flip a switch if they were going to avoid overtime.

With under a minute to play, Syracuse’s offense started to come alive. It finally started controlling the ball and dribbling with a purpose. The Orange picked up the pace and were determined to score a go-ahead goal.

With 46 seconds left, SU forced just its fourth penalty corner of the afternoon. The Orange had the look they wanted, but Lafayette’s goalie, Raffi Fragomeni, made a sliding save. With the ball alive in a scrum of chaos, Syracuse drew a foul.

On the ensuing penalty corner, the ball found its way to Bo van Kempen. The graduate student had a fast start to the season, scoring three goals in the team’s first two games. Since then, the Netherlands native had missed a game due to a funeral and had been held silent against Northeastern University. With so little time to play, van Kempen knew she and her team had to force an opportunity for it to arise.

“If you’re on the baseline, you know you’re not going to score from the corner, just look (to force a foul) because we know we have a really strong inside game,” van Kempen said.

With 35 seconds to play, van Kempen sunk the shot to give Syracuse the 2-1 lead. Syracuse’s defense held strong for the final half-minute, never letting Lafayette get anywhere near SU’s goal.

Van Kempen credits the people around her for putting her in a position to capitalize on the opportunity.

“The injection was really good and I had time,” van Kempen said. “I just had to finish the job.”

The Orange escaped triumphant. Thanks to stellar defense on penalty corner shots and a clutch shot by van Kempen, Farquhar and company could breathe a sigh of relief.

“The last 30 seconds, you could see what Syracuse is all about,” Farquhar said. “It’s special, it’s gritty.”

Published on September 15, 2024 at 6:48 pm