At a rain-drenched J.S. Coyne Stadium, the top-ranked Syracuse field hockey [10] team improved their record to 11-0 with yet another shut out on Sunday.
Gillian Pinder [11] and Liz McInerney [12] led the Orange over Yale University (3-6) 5-0.
Pinder tallied two goals and an assist, and McInerney added a goal and two assists in the five-goal rout of the Bulldogs.
The inclement weather was not much of a factor for the high-powered Orange offense in the first half, where they scored all five of their goals—including three in four minutes—but the downpour in the second half, which created puddles and severely slowed down the ball, did hamper the desire for more goals.
“The ball doesn't travel too well in lakes,” Iona Holloway [13] joked.
After two dangerous collisions toward the end of the second half, Coach Ange Bradley called time out and told her team to not worry about scoring.
“By the end of the half we were just trying to get out of there safely,” Holloway said.
The Bulldogs changed goalies at the half, and the combination of the new keeper and the intensified rain kept the Orange from adding to their lead.
“It definitely slowed the ball down,” Bradley said of the weather. “Unfortunately for us, that is an advantage to our opponents.”
However, the stellar play of the backs and senior goal keeper Leann Stiver kept the Bulldogs off the board to hand the Orange their fourth straight shutout and 34th straight win at home. The Orange now have seven shutouts in their 11 victories.
“It's another shut out, so you can't complain,” McInerney said.
The Orange will be on the road for the next three weekends, starting with a trip to Big East foe Providence on Oct. 6.
The Orange return to Coyne Stadium on Oct. 21 where they will meet Boston College.
