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Eefke van den Nieuwenhof had the chance to keep her team alive. The senior was hoping to send the Orange into the postseason on a high.

Van den Nieuwenhof failed to convert from her penalty stroke, and Wake Forest (7-8, 1-5 Atlantic Coast Conference) won its first Atlantic Coast Conference game of the year. With the loss, Syracuse (10-6, 2-4 ACC) finishes fifth in the standings heading into the seven-team conference tournament next week.

“It’s an inspiring group and I think we have not peaked yet,” first-year Head Coach Lynn Farquhar said following the loss.

Syracuse showed flashes of quality throughout the game, but struggled to finish its chances.

Despite controlling the bulk of early possession, Syracuse didn’t register a shot in the first quarter. Twice, Syracuse scored, but both times the scores were quickly waived off since they had been from outside the shooting circle. Wake Forest had the most dangerous chance in the first quarter when Brooke McCusker ripped a shot off the post.

Coming out from the first intermission, Wake Forest came out fast. Anna Gwiazdzinski finished a nice counter attacking sequence, putting the Demon Deacons up less than two minutes into the quarter. The goal was initially called back, but was awarded after video review.

Syracuse’s slow offensive start continued into the second quarter, going the entire first half without a shot on goal. The Orange generated chances, with a Pieke van de Pas penalty shot being blocked, and a Lieke Leeggangers attempt being redirected over the goal.

The start of the third quarter was a reverse of the second with Syracuse scoring early. A well-worked penalty corner routine was finished off by Willemijn Boogert, who notched her fifth goal of the season. Like Wake’s goal, it too was checked by video review, this time over improper stick use, but it was upheld.

Syracuse’s attacks continued, but goalkeeper Ellie Todd stood tall. A counter attack late in the third quarter gave the Orange a great chance to take the lead, but Boogert’s attempt was blocked. Todd denied Charlotte de Vries early in the fourth quarter, preventing Syracuse from taking the lead. For the third time in the game, the Orange scored through Bo Madden, but it was once again from too far out.

“I’m sure you could see there were opportunities and we created consistent opportunities every quarter,” Farquhar said. “It’s coming, you can see that they love playing forward with each other. There’s a lot of great things.”

Overtime was end-to-end throughout, but neither team scored. With acres of space for both offenses to work with due to the seven-on-seven format, chances were plentiful. Todd prevented Hattie Madden from a one-on-one situation, van den Nieuwenhof made a defensive stop down the other end, and Cato Schreinemacher had a shot saved from a wide angle.

With just one second remaining in the first overtime period, goalkeeper Abby Neitch made a game-saving one-on-one block to keep Syracuse alive. The redshirt freshman has started the last three games, in place of Brooke Borzymowski, who was the starter for the majority of the season.

A string of Syracuse penalty corners in double overtime led to a flurry of chances to find a winning goal, yet the ball simply would not go into the net. Todd made save after save, including ones against van den Nieuwenhof and de Vries mere seconds apart. With 23 seconds left on the clock, de Vries had an opportunity to score a winner, but it went wide, and the game went to a shootout.

De Vries missed her shot, while van den Nieuwenhof, Boogert, Bo Madden, and van de Pas all converted. Then, in sudden death, van den Nieuwenhof could not score for the second time after Faye Janse scored for Wake Forest.

Syracuse’s regular season came to an end with the loss, but now its attention shifts to tournament play. The Orange will have the opportunity to avenge its double overtime loss against Virginia earlier in the year against the Cavaliers this Tuesday.

For Farquhar, she summed up the team’s preparation with one word.

“Execution.”

Published on October 27, 2023 at 9:13 pm

Contact Alex at alcalabre@syr.edu