Syracuse field hockey blows out Bucknell 10-0
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The Syracuse team that arrived at Graham Field in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, Sunday, wasn’t the same team that narrowly lost to Rutgers seven days ago.
SU played the same level of defense, but offensively, it reached a new gear. Despite a slow first period, the Orange awoke in the second quarter and posted a goalfest against Bucknell.
Syracuse (4-1, 0-0 Atlantic Coast) blew out the Bison (4-1, 0-0 Patriot) 10-0, staying in control from the opening faceoff. Hattie Madden’s hat trick led the Orange’s scoring. Six Syracuse players found the back of the net.
SU got off to a lightning-quick start, forcing a turnover off the opening faceoff and moving the ball into the circle. It found Jovie Weaver with an empty net in front of her, but the freshman’s shot drifted just left.
Bucknell showed fight, and for most of the first period, Syracuse was forced into the same defensive game it played throughout its first four games. In the first 10 minutes, shots on goal were scarce, with SU’s Belle van de Pas owning the sole shot on goal for either team.
The deadlock was short-lived, however. Madden forced a turnover near the circle and dodged a defender before rifling a shot past a diving Sarah Althouse. Madden’s goal cracked a dam. The Orange just needed to keep peppering the net to break it.
They did just that, with Madden scoring from the left side of the circle 75 seconds into the second period. Before the Bison could register what happened, the ball fell to Weaver, and much like the first week of the season, she didn’t miss.
Bucknell also had opportunities to get on the scoreboard, including four penalty corners, but Syracuse’s DPC unit took care of business and flipped Bison offense into its own.
Ellis Cannon doesn’t usually score, but when opportunity came, she took advantage. From point-blank range, she let a shot fly, sliding right through Althouse’s legs for Syracuse’s fourth goal of the half.
Much like the second period, SU came out swinging in the third. Madden — looking for a hat trick — nearly found the back of the net, if not for Bucknell’s goal-line clearance. Unfortunately for the Bison, the clearance resulted in a penalty corner.
On the attempt, Taylor Bigbie found Madden in open space, who returned her pass for Bigbie to knock home.
Before Madden received another opportunity for a hat trick, Bucknell turned the ball over to Catalina Pravda, who was only surrounded by turf and Althouse. Pravda took two steps to her left and fired a shot from beyond the circle. It found the top corner of the goal.
Bucknell looked thoroughly defeated, but Syracuse wasn’t close to done. Aubrey Turner was next in line to enter the score sheet, dancing through traffic to the right of Althouse for Syracuse’s seventh goal.
Two minutes later, Madden maneuvered into the circle. She found herself one-on-one with Althouse. Bucknell’s goalie barrelled into Madden, causing the referee to allow Syracuse a penalty stroke. Sammie Goin calmly took — and made — the shot for her first goal of the year.
Just over four minutes into the fourth quarter, Madden finally got her hat trick. She sent the ball toward the middle of the circle from the right side, but after being deflected by a Bucknell defender’s foot, it rolled into the far side of the net.
At that point, Bucknell head coach Kelsey Usefara inserted backup goalie Abby Zanelli. She didn’t have time to settle in. Twenty-six seconds later, Ally Snyder boosted the Orange into double digits.
Syracuse stopped threatening and defended with the same fervor it used against Ohio State and Rutgers the week prior, looking to get Tane King her first career shutout.
As Bucknell began to threaten, Syracuse held firm, and despite another late penalty corner attempt, the Bison couldn’t find the back of the net. Bucknell’s 4-0 start was ended.
SU, after four lackluster performances to begin its season, needed a get-right game. While Bucknell isn’t on the same level as those Syracuse will face in the coming weeks, it seems Lynn Farquhar’s team is firing on all cylinders just in time.
