Syracuse plagued by missed chances in narrow shootout win vs. UMass Lowell
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At the beginning of Friday’s fourth quarter, Syracuse held a 2-1 lead over UMass Lowell with momentum on its side. After a strong passing combination, the ball rolled to Aubrey Turner.
Turner’s been in this moment before with three goals on 14 shots in the first five games this season. The sophomore had recorded at least three shots in three games and two in four. As a freshman last year, Turner converted seven of her 32 attempts. When she had norovirus during the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament Quarterfinal, she scored twice en route to victory.
In front of the cage, Turner tested her luck with another shot but to no avail. It was saved by UMass Lowell goalie Megan MacMiller, and instead of taking a comfortable 3-1 lead, SU found itself tied just moments later after a River Hawks goal.
That was the story of Syracuse’s (5-1, 0-0 ACC) home opener against UMass Lowell (3-4, 0-0 America East) on J.S. Coyne Stadium’s new blue turf, where the Orange won 3-2 in a shootout. Despite having 19 total shots, 10 on goal, Syracuse only converted two into goals across regulation and overtime.
“We’d like to finish,” Syracuse head coach Lynn Farquhar said postgame. “We’re creating, and there is opportunity.”
SU didn’t hesitate to get on the stat sheet. In the first quarter, the Orange had three shots, including a Sammie Goin goal from a penalty corner.
Syracuse only got more aggressive with six second-quarter shots. However, none found the back of the net. One even hit the post. The Orange missed another opportunity after the ball was played untouched through the circle with no one at the back post to put it away.
Syracuse then racked eight third-quarter shots before slowing down and only having one across the fourth quarter and overtime. During its eight-shot sprint, Syracuse found another goal from Karsin Beatty off another penalty corner.
Eight different Syracuse players tried their hand at a shot, as five had exactly one. Jess Liddell and Turner had six shots apiece, but neither cracked the scoreboard. Liddell even had four on goal.
Despite the scoresheet, Beatty isn’t concerned about the lack of goals.
“We’re going to go game by game, and I trust our forwards, I trust our midfield,” Beatty said. “So I know that’s not going to happen again and we’re going to fix that.”
Both UMass Lowell goalkeepers didn’t make it easy for the offense either. Veerle Mous and MacMiller both saw five shots, each saving four to give their squad an overall 80% save percentage. With the River Hawks’ limited offensive chances, the goalies were a big reason why the game reached a shootout.
Even with the low conversion rate, Syracuse excelled in attacking penalty corners. Before Friday’s contest, SU converted three of its 24 attempts (12.5%). On Friday, the Orange scored an uncharacteristic two of five, a trend Beatty hopes carries into conference play.
“At practice, our biggest thing is we play corners out. I had an opportunity, so I knew I had to push it and put it in the back of the goal,” Beatty said about her penalty corner goal.
With the help of APC goals and Jessie Eiselin’s poised shootout performance, Syracuse narrowly escaped the River Hawks.
Converting shots is an issue Syracuse has seen before. Against Northeastern, SU scored three on 20 shots. Against then-No. 20 Rutgers, the Orange made one of 12, posing concern moving forward.
“ACC is a whole new game of field hockey,” Beatty said. “We got to go in there strong, go in with confidence. We got to get to work this week.”
