Inefficient attack hinders SU in shutout defeat to Harvard
Geoff Botle | Syracuse Athletics
Syracuse's attack was limited to just six shots and three penalty corners against Harvard, falling in overtime of the NCAA Tournament 1-0 to end its 2024 campaign.
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When Harvard and Syracuse faced last October, the two teams combined for 11 goals, with the Crimson winning 6-5. That match set expectations for an offensive explosion entering this year’s NCAA Tournament, but Friday’s game was anything but that.
In the first round of the NCAA Tournament, SU and Harvard combined for 10 shots through 60 minutes, a far cry from the 25 produced in their 2023 contest. With the Crimson scoring 53 goals on the year, head coach Lynn Farquhar knew that limiting Harvard’s offense would be essential to Syracuse’s success going into the match.
“When opportunities come up, there’s been touches, there’s been moments where (the Crimson) finish on their opportunities,” Farquhar said before the match. “So, we have to play a solid game of hockey … and we have to score one more.”
While the Oranges could limit Harvard’s chances through regulation, they couldn’t do so in overtime. Syracuse (13-7, 4-4 Atlantic Coast Conference) fell 1-0 to Harvard (16-3, 6-1 Ivy League), ending its season in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. SU was outshot 8-6 in the game and won just three corners compared to Harvard’s five.
In the first quarter, neither team could generate much offense, as the Orange failed to register a shot in the period. While Harvard earned two penalty corners to close the first, the resulting shot on goal from Sage Piekarski was saved by Bo van Kempen.
“(Van Kempen)’s a selfless leader,” Farquhar said postgame. “I give her a ton of credit. She picked up a ton of balls, she generated the (penalty corner) in overtime … I couldn’t speak any higher of her as a person.”
The second quarter was much of the same for Syracuse. Eight minutes into the period, SU was still searching for its first shot attempt when Berber Bakermans broke the dry spell. She drove through the middle of the arc and fired a shot toward the net, but it flew over the head of Crimson goalkeeper Tessa Shahbo.
After 30 minutes, the first half ended with zero penalty corners for the Orange, and zero shots on goal. Syracuse was stymied by Harvard’s defensive pressure, which made it very difficult for them to generate chances in the arc early in the match.
“If you look at Harvard throughout the year, it’s kinda the style they play,” Farquhar said postgame. “(Across) the full field, they drop in pretty tight to congest that space.”
However, once the second half started, SU began to break through Harvard’s press on offense. Just twelve minutes into the third, Taja Gans found Aiden Drabick in the arc, but Drabick’s stick flew out of her hands before she could get a shot off. The sequence began a trend seen throughout the match, with Syracuse failing to convert on its chances against Harvard.
Six minutes later, the Orange earned their first penalty corner of the match, giving them a perfect opportunity to open the scoring. Lieke Leeggangers fed the insertion to van Kempen, whose drag flick shot was saved by Shahbo, giving Syracuse its first shot on goal.
The Orange outshot the Crimson 2-0 in the period, earning their first two penalty corners of the match. Though, the game remained scoreless heading into the fourth, a period which saw the Crimson completely blank SU’s attack.
Syracuse was on the defensive in the fourth quarter, with Harvard applying constant offensive pressure throughout. The Crimson nearly broke through with eight minutes left in regulation, earning two consecutive penalty corners. Louise Pert saved a shot on goal from Bronte-May Brough after the first. The following corner resulted in two blocked shots.
After 60 minutes of regulation, Syracuse was outshot 7-3, and it mustered just two corners compared to Harvard’s four.
Although van Kempen, Gans and Annabelle Vossenaar registered shots on goal in overtime, Shahbo saved all of them with ease. Her defensive work set the stage for Lara Beekhuis, who drove into the arc and fired a shot through Pert’s legs to end SU’s season.
“(Harvard) went to five overtimes, they’re a team that hangs in there,” Farquhar said postgame. “We knew that coming in, and I think we generated quite a bit in our attacking 25. We just had to do the last piece a little bit better today.”
Published on November 15, 2024 at 6:35 pm
