Observations from No. 15 SU’s win at Louisville: Guzik’s career-high, turnovers
Bri Peters finished Saturday's contest against Louisville with one goal and one assist. She was one of five Syracuse players with multiple points. Brody Shuffler | Contributing Photographer
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To reach his goals, Regy Thorpe knows changes are necessary.
His unpredictable nature makes Syracuse difficult to plan for. Nobody, not even then-No. 7 Maryland, knew Molly Guzik would be SU’s draw specialist. Nobody knew Thorpe would pull Gracie Britton and Ashlee Volpe for Annie Parker and Mackenzie Rich from his starting lineup against No. 13 Loyola, and that Volpe would still put up a career-best passing performance.
The element of surprise has been Thorpe’s calling card, as it’s impossible to make assumptions about the Orange. He had a few other tricks up his sleeve Saturday, propelling SU to its first conference victory over Louisville.
Here are observations from No. 15 Syracuse’s (2-3, 1-2 Atlantic Coast) 13-10 triumph over the Cardinals (2-4, 0-3 ACC):
Turnover discrepancy
In the first half of SU’s win over Loyola on Tuesday, it committed seven turnovers to the Greyhounds’ six.
After that, the Orange cruised to a commanding advantage over Loyola, winning the margin 10-4. That carried into Saturday, when SU caused four of Louisville’s six turnovers in the first quarter, while it only committed two.
Early in the second quarter, Mackenzie Salentre stripped Reese Whiteman, Louisville’s leading scorer, and Joely Caramelli retrieved the ball to go the other way. At times, the Orange got a little too violent with checking, as Coco Vandiver hacked Ella Berg with about two minutes left in the frame. The sophomore converted for Louisville, which trimmed SU’s lead to 5-3.
But through the first half, SU set a strong pace, as Vandiver caused three Cardinals giveaways. Salentre, in her new position this season, nabbed two in the opening 30 minutes.
That prowess carried into the second half, as the Orange finished the day winning the caused-turnover battle 19-5. Emma Muchnick has recently been neutralized, only scoring three goals, but she made an impact defensively, forcing three Louisville giveaways.
Draw inconsistencies
Guzik may be SU’s leading scorer this season and led it in goals Saturday, but she couldn’t find a groove on the draw. Off the heels of a season-high seven wins against Loyola, it seemed she might be able to carry the momentum against Syracuse’s first unranked opponent of the year.
Not only did she lose the battle, but the Orange were outclassed in the circle 9-3 in the first half. Ella Berg was a force to be reckoned with, winning six. Earlier in the season, Guzik resorted to flipping the ball back to players like Mileena Cotter and Caramelli to scoop up behind her. On Saturday, she opted to fling it forward, giving the Cardinals many opportunities to pick it up.
Thorpe opted for Ireland Mistretta in the second half, who made her season debut. Her performance wasn’t anything special, and she struggled mightily, too. She couldn’t figure out how to rip the ball away from Berg’s grasp. Still, she had a strong rep about eight and a half minutes into the fourth quarter, which the Orange scooped up on her behalf. But SU squandered the category 17-8.
Game of runs
Loyola experienced firsthand what SU could do once it found a rhythm, conceding seven straight in the third quarter while being held scoreless. In fact, that was part of an 8-0 carrying over from the first half.
Louisville got that treatment swiftly. While it struck first, it endured a gargantuan goal drought, lasting just under 14 minutes. In that time span, the Orange capitalized with a 5-0 run. Five different scorers — Izzy Lahah, Guzik, Alexa Vogelman, Cotter and Rich — got on the board.
But the Cardinals soon started to beat SU at its own game. Maggie McMahon quickly picked up a brace, while Berg and Charlotte Jackson also beat Daniella Guyette to tie the game up at five after trailing by four.
It was a similar story at the start of the third quarter, with Syracuse immediately responding to Berg nabbing a hat trick to knot things at six. Guzik fired back with two in a row, and Mackenzie Borbi extended SU’s lead to three, all within three minutes. Vogelman nabbed her second of the game and season moments later.
The fourth quarter didn’t see any one-goal swings, with Louisville nabbing two and the Orange immediately responding with a triad. The Cardinals had two more in a row soon after, but it wasn’t enough.
Unstoppable Guzik
Even when the draw doesn’t go right for Guzik, she finds a way to be the best player on the field.
Nobody saw it coming this year, having come off the bench in all 19 games last season and only tallying 14 goals. Now, she’s at the top of every team’s clipboard ahead of Syracuse matchups. Yet, nobody can figure her out.
She notched a career-high four goals Saturday, continuing her blazing surge from Tuesday, when she nabbed a hat trick. It’s the most goals any SU player has scored in a two-game stretch this season.
Guzik was SU’s second scorer against the Cardinals, flipping her hips from behind the cage and ripping twine. But after being held scoreless in the second quarter, she reclaimed her dominance with back-to-back tallies. Whether it’s a sidewinder or a lefty, Haley Richards couldn’t answer back.
