As time expired, the Syracuse bench turned to their right and sprinted as fast as they could towards Asa Goldstock.
Goldstock [8], the freshman goalie who made four saves in the last few minutes, celebrated the come-from-behind victory over Virginia (2-3, 0-1 ACC) with her teammates.
After the first 15 minutes, it didn’t look like Goldstock would be the defensive savior for the Orange (7-0, 2-0 ACC). Virginia jumped out to an early 4-0 lead, causing Syracuse to call a timeout. Having played three games in the previous eight days, the team seemed to have many tired legs.
The Orange did not have an attack for the first three minutes and a shot until the 4:32 mark, when attacker Emily Hawryschuk [9] had her attempt saved by Rachel Vander Kolk.
Goldstock’s confidence appeared to take a massive dent when her attempted lateral pass to Kathy Rudkin sailed out of bounds at the midfield line. On the following possession, Virginia scored.
Syracuse also failed to convert on offensive chances, too. On a possession 30 yards out, Nicole Levy was uncontested when she dropped the ball, causing a turnover.
With the score at 7-1 favoring Virginia, Goldstock was removed from the game, replaced by Bri Stahrr. However, Stahrr conceded two goals in less than two minutes, and Goldstock was brought back in to play.
Besides the score, the Orange had significant statistical disadvantages in both draws and shot attempts in the first half. Syracuse had four draws and ten shots, compared to 12 and 19 by the Cavaliers.
The second half started much stronger for Syracuse. On Virginia’s opening possession, Attacker Sammy Mueller’s shot was saved by Goldstock. From there, Syracuse ran the ball down the field and Devon Parker [10] capitalized, bringing the score to 11-5.
One of Virginia’s weaknesses was their inability to stay out of trouble, collecting four yellow cards and other penalties throughout the second half. Syracuse had six free position attempts in the second, leading to three goals. The first free position shot of the second half was by Cara Quimby [11], scoring her second of the game.
The closest margin was 12-10 at the 15-minute mark until Kasey Behr scored for the Cavaliers, quickly followed by Jackson’s fourth goal of the game.
However, Syracuse did not stop there, and SU head coach Gary Gait [12]praised the work that his team did in coming back.
Syracuse went on another mini run with Parker scoring her fourth goal followed by Kelzi Van Atta [13] and Nicole Levy [14]goals in two minutes to bring the score to 14-13. However, a free position goal by Behr brought the lead back to two.
As the Syracuse support got louder, it drove the Orange to score through Mary Rahal [15], placing the ball through the legs of Vander Kolk. Immediately following the face off, Wallon controlled the draw as the ball made its way to Parker who tied the game at 15, scoring her fifth goal of the game. Parker’s goal was the first tie since 57 seconds into the contest.
Haley McDonnell forced a turnover by stepping in front of a pass, and Syracuse called a timeout to set up its offense. Donahue [16] capitalized on an opportunity and put the ball past Vander Kolk for her second goal of the game.
“The opportunity was there to take it,” Donahue said.
Donahue’s goal ended up being the game winner due to multiple saves by Goldstock, including one from a free position shot right away and one with one minute remaining.
The comeback victory was a way for Syracuse to build chemistry and momentum heading to upcoming games, Gait said.
Syracuse will return to action [17] on Friday at No. 1 Maryland. First face-off is set for 1 p.m. in College Park, Maryland.
