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It was practically beach weather in Louisville on Saturday afternoon, but the Syracuse Orange had anything but a relaxing trip to the Bluegrass State in their 13-10 win over the Cardinals.
Louisville gave them plenty to stress about as a hot goalie and a strong day on draw controls kept the home side close, but ultimately the Orange were able to make enough plays to get the separation they needed.
In a fast paced game that featured 30 turnovers and a lot of up-and-down the field action, ‘Cuse was able to overcome a 17-8 deficit on draws and 15 saves from UL goalie Haley Richards with a well-balanced offense, an impressive performance from the defense and a dominant, 23-9 ground ball advantage.
Nine different players scored a goal and 11 players recorded a point for the Orange, who fought off multiple comeback attempts from UL on the afternoon.
The defense had themselves a day, to say the least. Louisville finished the game with 20 turnovers, and an incredible 19 of them were ‘caused’ by SU, their most in a single game since February of 2019. The ‘Cuse zone was stick-checking like crazy and intercepting passes all game long to help offset the impact of Louisville’s draw wins.
In the early going, Haley Richards established that it was going to be a difficult day for goal scoring by making four saves before SU was eventually able to find the back of the net on an impressive transition goal by Izzy Lahah for the first goal of her career. Despite that start, the Orange scored five straight goals from the mid-first to the early second that gave them a 5-1 lead that made it look like it would be a relatively comfortable day for the road team.
But that proved not to be the case in the second quarter, when Louisville really started to take control of the draws and translated it into goal scoring. In the middle of the quarter, the Cardinals won four straight draws and scored four straight goals, including a pair of free positions, to punch back and tie the game at 5-5 with a few minutes left in the half.
SU got the last strike before the break on a nice connection from Annie Parker to Bri Peters making an arched cut through the eight-meter for the finish that gave them a 6-5 edge.
The Cardinals answered quickly in the second half with a goal from speedster Ella Berg, who scored the third of her four goals to tie it right back up at 6-6.
Less than a minute later, however, Molly Guzik finished off a Bri Peters dodge that drew enough of a slide to give Molly time-and-room for her patented low-to-high riser that just snuck over the shoulder of Richards in goal. Just a minute after that, Guzik scored again on the tail end of a beautifully executed transition opportunity after a UL turnover.
Those back-to-back Guzik tallies started a 4-0 run in the third that gave the Orange a lead they would never give up at 10-6. Freshman Mackenzie Borbi and Alexa Vogelman each scored a rebound goal to finish off that run. Borbi’s shot deflected off a defenders stick and went in, while Vogelman tracked a loose ball nicely and scooped it up for a slam dunk goal.
That deciding Orange run was, in part, influenced by Regy Thorpe making a switch on draws to give freshman Ireland Mistretta the first game action of her career. While Mistretta didn’t record any draw wins herself, she was able to disrupt the rhythm of UL draw taker Olivia Scroggie enough to help ‘Cuse get a few extra wins at the circle and help ignite that four-goal spurt.
The Cardinals weren’t quite done, though, as they opened the fourth quarter with back-to-back goals that brought it back to a 10-8 score with just under 12 minutes remaining.
SU had one final answer, as they scored three straight times to get their biggest margin of the day at 13-8. Stony Brook transfer Courtney Maclay scored smartly on a free position, Ashlee Volpe scored on another beautiful transition goal after, of course, a turnover, and Guzik ripped home a flame thrower of a goal on-the-run from a right wing dodge.
Louisville added a couple more goals in one final comeback attempt, but it wasn’t to be as the Orange saw the game out for a 13-10 win to improve to 2-3 on the season with their first ACC win (1-2).
Guzik had the best offensive day of her career, with a career high four goals and five points to lead the charge. Mackenzie Rich had another good day as her playing time continues to increase with a goal and two assists, while Alexa Vogelman had a very strong day with her first two goals of the season, two draw controls and two ground balls.
Bri Peters and Courtney Maclay each had a goal and an assist, and six other players registered a single point.
Defensively, the numbers were staggering. Coco Vandiver, UAlbany transfer Mackenzie Salentre and Joely Caramelli all finished the game with four caused turnovers each. Emma Muchnick had three caused turnovers, and four others had one a piece for a grand total of 19 in a single game.
Daniella Guyette finished with only six saves, but that was more than enough when combined with what her defense was doing in front of her.
The Orange will be back home for their next game when they host the Cal Goldens Bears on Tuesday, March 3 at 5 PM.