No. 9 Syracuse extends win streak to 6 games with 6-5 victory over No. 5 Yale
No. 9 Syracuse extended its winning streak to six games Tuesday with a 6-5 win over No. 5 Yale. Charlie Hynes | Staff Photographer
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Although Syracuse was amid a five-game winning streak, earned two ranked victories and sports one of the nation’s top defenses, head coach Regy Thorpe didn’t think the Orange had played a complete 60 minutes yet.
SU had raced out to early leads, held its own through the middle quarters and then lapsed late. In a way, it’s encouraging. If the Orange hadn’t had a complete showing, imagine what they’re capable of. Especially after a program-defining win over then-No. 4 Northwestern.
But if you’re a glass-half-empty kind of guy, then it’s concerning. Especially against Yale, which tormented the Orange twice last season and eventually ended their campaign.
The Bulldogs are a much different team than they were last year. They lost their four leading point-getters, the same four who combined for 22 goals against SU. But all the pent-up anger the Orange held still came into play Tuesday. And though SU didn’t play a complete 60, it can finally wipe the slate clean. No. 9 Syracuse (6-3, 3-2 Atlantic Coast) extended its win streak to six games with a 6-5 victory over No. 5 Yale (7-1, 1-0 Ivy).
This was never going to be a high-scoring game. SU’s defense has been its “backbone” all year, per Thorpe, and Yale’s unit is perhaps even stronger. The Bulldogs haven’t allowed double-digit goals and led the nation with a miniscule 5.57 scores allowed per game entering Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the Orange’s defense had forced five opponents into season-low production, setting program records in the process. Therefore, the result of Tuesday’s matchup was always going to come down to which team made more mistakes. Early on, Yale wore the label.
There’s few worse ways to start a game than a shot-clock violation. Use all 90 seconds, come away with nothing and things might get ugly. A score is obviously hoped for, but even a shot on net is appreciated. The Bulldogs opened with nothing.
SU’s zone defense suffocated Yale’s attack, to the point that its bench shouted to signal the clock was expiring. No one on the field had a clue.
That was Syracuse’s cue. Thorpe said Monday that it’s hard to know which specific players were out for revenge after last year’s losses to Yale. Based on SU’s first offensive possession, it seemed every player held a grudge. One by one, they released it.
Alexa Vogelman handed the Orange an early lead with her fourth goal of the season. Mackenzie Rich received a feed from Molly Guzik outside the 12-meter arc, where a crashing Vogelman stood unguarded at the doorstep. Vogelman fell to the ground, simultaneously firing a shot into the top left corner past Yale’s Niamh Pfaff.
Vogelman rose from the turf with a smile, almost warning the Bulldogs not to let the Orange catch fire. Subsequent goals from Guzik and Emma Muchnick suggest Yale didn’t listen.
The 3-0 lead was antithetical to SU’s NCAA Tournament loss to the Bulldogs. And if the flipped script was going to continue, Yale was set to score two unanswered goals.
A draw win from Whitney Froeb gave the Bulldogs the opportunity, and Ashley Kiernan followed through just over a minute later with her 16th goal of the season. Kate Gould added Yale’s second score in the final five minutes of the first quarter to cut SU’s lead to one.
Disallowed goals from Muchnick and Froeb put the game’s focus on defense, which both sides excelled at. Penalties from SU’s Mackenzie Borbi and Yale’s Bella Saviano allowed each squad a try on the man-up, but nothing touched the back of the net.
Halfway through the second quarter, the score remained 3-2. The Orange were amid a 13-minute scoring drought before Joely Caramelli cashed in with an overhand slam on Pfaff, her first goal since her hat trick against Loyola Maryland on Feb. 24.
She converted a second strike moments later, giving the Orange the finishing touch to their 5-3 halftime lead. It was a pretty start and finish, but the middle minutes, when Yale scored two unanswered to claw back, were what Thorpe was pinpointing. Top-five opponents like the Bulldogs force faultless play, and SU was lucky to enter the break ahead.
In the second half, Yale uncharacteristically committed repeated mistakes, allowing the Orange to maintain control. Coco Vandiver intercepted an errant clear, and though it didn’t amount to much offensively, it kept the Bulldogs quiet for the next nine minutes until Ashley Newman’s goal with 3:23 left in the third frame thinned SU’s lead back to one.
Daniella Guyette had been flawless in net, saving eight of 12 shots by the third quarter’s end, but Pfaff had five saves on 10 shots. Their performances reflected the 5-4 stalemate, though Yale was poised to score the equalizer.
Just over a minute in the final quarter, it finally did. Gould scurried around X, finding Newman at the crease, ready to blaze her shot past Guyette.
Brand new ballgame. Another chance for Syracuse to demonstrate its complete play, this time not for 60, but for 14 minutes.
Caroline Trinkaus turned the tide back to Syracuse with her first goal of the evening, adding to her three-point outing. Both squads then traded empty possessions ahead of a Syracuse timeout with 1:49 remaining.
Forget about the past; the next moments would show if the Orange were capable of pulling off upsets, and that their win over Northwestern wasn’t a fluke. It didn’t start favorably. An Ashlee Volpe sidearm shot was hauled in by Pfaff, setting Yale up with 40 seconds to go.
But a Bulldogs green card followed, sealing Syracuse’s second straight win over a top-five opponent and extending its winning streak to six games.
