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To say Syracuse field hockey is a team in transition this season would be an understatement. Syracuse’s roster features 17 newcomers, while three of its four point leaders from 2024 are no longer with the program.

One of those three players is Willemijn Boogert. Boogert was paramount to the Orange’s 13-7 record last year, racking up 23 points, seven goals and a team-best nine assists. Her success culminated in Second Team All-Atlantic Coast Conference honors.

“I don’t think (Boogert) is replaceable because she was a really big part of our team last year,” graduate student Bo van Kempen said before Friday’s opener. “I do feel like we have other players who can step up into her role with assists.”

So, who would the Orange turn to replace her offensive production? Would it be a freshman? Returners? A transfer?

Through two games, it’s been all three. No. 11 Syracuse (2-0, 0-0 Atlantic Coast) has been guided by van Kempen’s nine goals, Pati Strunk and Liz Stange’s 13 combined assists, Hattie Madden’s hat trick and strong production from its freshmen. The balanced offensive attack is an encouraging sign that the Orange can replace Boogert’s output.

Many facets of Boogert’s game may have seemed irreplaceable coming into the year. Distribution was one of them. Syracuse lost 69% of its playmaking production from an offense that also recorded the 18th-most assists in the nation, led by Boogert with nine.

“Playmaking is definitely an area where we’re looking for more this year,” Syracuse head coach Lynn Farquhar said on Thursday.

From the get-go in Friday’s clash with Lock Haven, Strunk and Stange’s nine combined assists indicated they had the playmaking department handled.

Fourteen seconds into the contest, a Bald Eagles interference penalty led to an SU penalty corner. Strunk’s insert put Stange in a prime position to find an open van Kempen. Unsurprisingly, she cashed in.

A quarter later, it was rinse and repeat. Strunk. Stange. Van Kempen. Goal.

In just Friday’s game alone, Strunk eclipsed two-thirds of Boogert’s nine total assists in 2024 . It helped that Lock Haven gifted Syracuse plenty of opportunities, but there’s a difference between having an opportunity and taking advantage of it.

Strunk, Stange and van Kempen consistently did the latter.

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But last year, Boogert led an offense dominated by upperclassmen. SU’s top five point scorers were all juniors, seniors and graduate students.

This season, however, it’s been a mixed scoring approach aside from van Kempen’s heroics — a major step toward replacing Boogert’s production.

With two starts under her belt, freshman Aubrey Turner has played a vital role in that change. In Friday’s season opener, Turner diced up the Bald Eagles with two late unassisted goals to add to SU’s historic offensive showing.

Turner wasn’t the only freshman who tallied her first collegiate goal on Friday. Off a gorgeous feed from van Kempen, Karsin Beatty knocked one through the outstretched arms of Lock Haven goalie Kelsey Felix. Less than 10 minutes later, Ally Snyder drove into the crease and flipped the puck into the net for her first career score, extending SU’s lead to 12-0.

Syracuse may opt to take a more veteran approach to replacing Boogert once ACC play begins, but the three newcomers provided an extra spark to SU’s offense.

Scoring 15 goals in a game is unprecedented. It hardly ever happens at the professional level, let alone collegiate.

So, almost by default, SU regressed on Sunday, scoring five goals. But that doesn’t mean its offense wasn’t balanced again.

Did van Kempen lead the charge again? Sure. Was she the only source of offense for the Orange? No.

Strunk continued her success as SU’s insert on corners against Fairfield, pitching in two more assists. After Boogert was one of the main penalty corner injectors for Syracuse in 2024 and inserted 44.4% (8/18) of the Orange’s corner goals, Strunk has stepped into that role seamlessly through two games, matching Boogert’s total.

“We’re just trusting the details in practices and trying to do it on point when it’s gameday,” Strunk said of her approach to perfecting corner inserts.

The senior’s vision and focus have been especially critical to her success thus far, and her ability to rapidly find an open player in front of the net has led to van Kempen’s early heroics.

Entering the year, Boogert was also considered a significant loss, with uncertainty over whether returning upperclassmen Lieke Leeggangers and Madden could replicate her consistency. Boogert scored or assisted on goals in half the games she played in and carried a seven-game point streak last fall.

On Sunday, Syracuse’s veterans stepped up in a major way.

After recording just six points in 2024, Madden has already surpassed that total in 2025. Following her hat trick on Friday, she found a cutting Stange to set the tone early for Sunday’s win.

Leeggangers didn’t score her first goal last year until SU’s seventh game, putting immense pressure on Boogert and van Kempen to carry the Orange’s offensive load. Using her agility and half-field speed, she zoomed into Fairfield territory and lasered one into the goal for her first tally of 2025.

SU has yet to face a ranked opponent this season, and averaging 10 goals a game isn’t sustainable. But if opening weekend was any indication, the Orange have multiple solutions for ensuring their offense doesn’t skip a beat without Boogert.

Published on September 2, 2025 at 10:25 pm
sabrod@syr.edu