SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Twice Syracuse field hockey fell down a goal to Stanford on Friday at J.S. Coyne Stadium. Twice the Orange answered back.
SU took it’s only lead on a goal by Taylor Bigbie with 7:26 left in the game to give the 14th-ranked Orange a 3-2 comeback win.
The goal came off a penalty corner play that Bigbie said the team’s been waiting for the right time to use. The play looked to be set up for freshman Jess Liddell to take a shot, but instead Liddell gave a spot-on pass to Bigbie, who was set up 2 feet from the goal and slid the game-winner past the goalie’s outstretched arm.
“Jess and I have been working on that for weeks-end now, and we’ve been begging to put it into play,” Bigbie said. “We know it works, and I was just really excited to share that with her. We knew it was going to happen, and we already knew it was a goal before it happened.”
Despite Syracuse controlling much of the opening quarter and outshooting Stanford 5-1, it was the Cardinal who opened the game’s scoring 11 minutes in on a goal by senior midfielder Liv Martin.
Syracuse answered back early in the second quarter. Sophomore Ellis Cannon dished to senior forward Hattie Madden on a breakaway two-on-one against the goalie, and Madden scored her 6th goal of the season on a sliding play.
It took Stanford only 2 1/2 minutes to retake the lead though on a penalty corner play. Syracuse goalie Jessie Eiselin made two saves on the play, but Stanford senior Star Horlock stayed with it and got the rebound goal to give her team a 2-1 lead heading into halftime.
Syracuse head coach Lynn Farquhar gave her team a simple halftime message.
“She was just telling us that it’s our game, and we just have to control it,” Bigbie said. “We just have to keep rolling with it, and that sparked us to come out with more energy.”
That post-halftime energy led to a dominant second half for the Orange, who outshot Stanford 5-1 and scored twice to get the win.
The Orange (8-5 overall, 3-3 in the ACC) now look forward as they have a quick turnaround to Sunday’s game against No. 18 Cal (9-5 overall, 2-4 ACC). It will be Syracuse’s eighth game against a ranked opponent this season.
“Well, this group loves to compete,” Farquhar said, noting togetherness will be key in Sunday’s game. “Team hockey. That’s what we’re always looking for. Team hockey and decision making in the moment, as simple as possible.”