SYRACUSE, N.Y. — The Orange returned to J.S. Coyne Stadium for the first time in three weeks and netted a vital 4-2 win over No. 16 Louisville.
A major storyline for Syracuse was the return of Hattie Madden, who had missed the last two games with an injury.
In her return, Hattie got things going four minutes into action assisting Aubrey Turner for the matches first score.
The Cardinals tied the game with just 30 seconds remaining in the first quarter as Chloe Plumb took one down the sideline herself and placed it past Syracuse goalie Jessie Eiselin and into the back of the net. The goal was Louisville’s only shot attempt of the first quarter.
The Orange upped their tempo and aggressiveness in the second quarter, where they began to dominate the time of possession.
After a beautiful kick save by Eiselin to open the period, Syracuse went on a run where they took nine consecutive shots, but could not find the back of the net.
Syracuse was awarded six penalty corners in the second quarter alone, but self-inflicted wounds including multiple foot faults and turnovers kept Louisville in the game.
“We have to trust each other and then also finish the job,” head coach Lynn Farquhar said of the team struggling to score on corners. “It truly takes a team effort.”
Just one minute into the second half, Louisville’s Maddie Kearin was given a green card after a foul on Bo Madden, awarding Syracuse a penalty stroke. On the attempt, Bo ripped the ball to the bottom left corner of the net, putting the Orange on top 2-1.
With 15 seconds to go in the third quarter and on its11th penalty corner attempt of the game, Syracuse finally capitalized on one to take a 3-1 lead. Jess Liddell tapped one into the net for her second goal of the year.
Farquhar said there’s a persistence component to penalty corners. “We talked about growth not being linear,” she said. “We kept on battling, kept earning them.”
The Cardinals were not done, however. Early in the fourth quarter, Louisville’s Gigi Edward brought the game back to within one with a goal to the top corner of the net.
A few minutes later, Mary Wordelmann ripped a potential game-tying goal off the post.
With Louisville keeping the pressure on, the team pulled its goalie with just over four minutes remaining. Jovie Weaver took note of this and put the ball through an empty Cardinal net, sealing the 4-2 win.
In total, the Orange put up 19 shots, by far their most against an ACC opponent all year.
“The real commitment to us was our own connection,” Farquhar said. “As long as we have that, I think we can get out of different challenges.”
Syracuse is now 7-3 and 2-2 in ACC play.
Up next for the Orange is a non-conference matchup against No. 7 Harvard at home on Sunday.