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A little under 27 minutes into their match on Sunday, the Orange had a rather familiar setup against Cal. Trailing 1-0, Syracuse earned its first penalty corner of the match, showing signs of life in what had been a dormant offense up to that point.

Willemijn Boogert lined up for the insertion and her pass found Annabelle Vossenaar. The freshman midfielder corralled the ball, trapping it at the top of the arc for Bo van Kempen. The shot banked past Cal goalie Tina Jolly, equalizing the match and giving van Kempen her 10th goal of the year.

Van Kempen did it all for the Orange on Sunday, driving both the offense and the defense in No. 14 Syracuse’s (10-3, 4-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) 2-1 win over No. 18 Cal (6-5, 0-5 ACC). The graduate student led SU with four of its seven shots on goal, and she was responsible for both of SU’s goals on the day.

“We’re just lucky to have (van Kempen),” Syracuse head coach Lynn Farquhar said postgame. “The heart, the spirit, the passion of what this group has I think is incredibly special, and you see (van Kempen) continue to show up every week.”

Early in the match, Syracuse faced difficulties trying to get its offense going, outshot 5-0 in the first quarter. The Orange failed to register a penalty corner until the second quarter, and Cal was consistently driving into their territory over the first 15 minutes.

With 2:19 left in the first quarter, Sydney Decher lined up for the insertion on Cal’s second penalty corner. Her pass found Olivia Sharratt, who lined up in the middle of the arc and fired the shot past Louise Pert to put the Golden Bears up early.

They were able to threaten the Orange again soon after, earning two penalty corners with under a minute left in the first. After Pert saved a shot from Liz Klompmaker, the rebound found Decher, and her shot forced van Kempen to make a defensive save to keep Syracuse within a goal.

The Orange needed to respond if they wanted to escape the match with a win, and van Kempen was crucial in leading the charge.

“It took us a little bit to start playing how we’d like to play. We can’t let that happen, that’s something we need to do better,” Farquhar said postgame. “Every team’s gonna do something a little bit different, and Cal was great.”

Buoyed by the pressure provided by van Kempen and Taja Gans, Syracuse blanked the Golden Bears in the second and third quarters. Cal registered zero shots on goal in that span, and just one shot total. Gans and van Kempen were simply impenetrable, disrupting Cal’s offensive momentum by winning tackles and intercepting passes throughout regulation.

“I think we organized really well. We held our diamond shape and protected the inside, so they had to go around the outside,” van Kempen said postgame. “And I think we had some pretty good tackles, which allowed us to get the ball back and move forward.”

Cal threatened SU more in the fourth quarter, earning three penalty corners and registering five shots in the period. The Golden Bears’ most dangerous chance came from Holly Pears, who drove through the left side of the arc and fired a shot on goal at Pert with just over six minutes remaining in regulation. Fortunately, Pert was able to save the shot, forcing an overtime period with the two teams knotted at one goal apiece.

Once they got into overtime, the Orange knew van Kempen was going to come through in the clutch for them. To this point, she produced six of the team’s nine game-winning goals on the season. It was just a matter of giving her the opportunity to do so.

After Syracuse stripped Cal of possession following a penalty corner, Lieke Leeggangers forced a penalty corner of her own, giving van Kempen the opportunity she had been waiting for. Leeggangers inserted the ball, and Berber Bakermans trapped it at the top of the arc. The ball was in the perfect spot for van Kempen to bury the shot, securing the win for Syracuse with her 11th goal of the season.

“I really like to perform under pressure,” van Kempen said. “I think the team has a lot of confidence in me, and I just finish it game after game. Luckily, it’s going pretty well so far.”

Published on October 13, 2024 at 5:21 pm

mjpalmar@syr.edu