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UMass forward Nia Hislop raced one-on-one with Orange defender Kate Murphy for a 50/50 ball down the right flank. As both players crashed towards the ball outside the 18-yard box, SU goalkeeper Shea Vanderbosch came well off her line in an attempt to erase the attack.

Hislop slipped a right-footed touch past Murphy and Vanderbosch into the middle of the shooting area. UMass forward Ashley Lamond raced toward the rolling ball and easily tapped it into the empty net. The goal put the Minutewomen up 2-0 13 minutes into the contest.

Syracuse (2-3-0, 0-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) fell to UMass (2-1-2, 0-0 Atlantic 10 Conference) 2-0 on Thursday. Despite dominating possession in the second half, SU committed costly mistakes in the first half that were insurmountable.

After defeating Binghamton 2-1 on Sunday night at home, the Orange hit the road for the first of five consecutive road games. Amherst, Massachusetts would be the first stop on the away voyage. Just 2:18 in, Syracuse committed a massive error.

UMass defender Sarah Defreitas took a left-footed touch along the left sideline toward the middle of the field. She then hit an inswinging ball all the way to the six-yard box. The ball fell into a scrum involving three SU defenders and two Minutewomen attackers.

As the ball entered the crowd, it deflected off Syracuse defender Zoe Van de Cloot and into the bottom right corner of the net. Twelve minutes later, the Minutewomen doubled their lead with Lamond’s goal.

The UMass offense in the first half was persistent in its pressure on the SU defense. Using a high press, attacker Grace Pinkus along with Hislop and Lamond trapped Syracuse ball carriers in the SU defensive third.

While the Orange had trouble numerous times earlier in the season distributing out of the back into the middle third of the field, Vanderbosch was often able to save the day and keep the game competitive. In Thursday afternoon’s matchup, this was not the case.

After an unlucky goal against her to start the game, Vanderbosch made an uncharacteristic mistake to cause the two-goal deficit. Rather than trusting the veteran Murphy to close down the ball herself, she chose to crash off her line all the way out of the goalie’s box. This positioning not only took away Vanderbosch’s ability to use her hands, but also left the goal frame wide open.

As the ball was tapped into the back of the net by Lamond, Vanderbosch was still far behind the play, just finding her way back into the box. The Minutemen’s tenacious force along with the Orange mishaps put SU in a 2-0 hole early in the game.

Syracuse in the first half struggled to get the ball out of its defensive third and UMass had plenty of offensive opportunities because of it. The Minutewomen tripled the Orange’s shots in the first 45 minutes of the match, outshooting them 9-3. While SU did get off three shots, they were all noncompetitive and floated into the box for Minutewomen goalkeeper Bella Mendoza to easily scoop up.

Along with Minutewomen attackers pressuring SU ball carriers, midfielder Bella Recinos was all over the field. Recinos matched up well against Syracuse midfielders and often cut off passing lanes and didn’t allow them to turn throughout the match.

Following being dominated in the first half, the Orange came out in the second half with a quicker pace of play. SU’s attackers and midfielders pestered UMass players on and off the ball.

Syracuse attackers turned the tables on UMass in the first 20 minutes of the second half, often trapping the ball in the Minutewomen defensive third and making it hard for them to get the ball past the half line. The Orange created five corner opportunities in the second half after having just one through the first period.

Despite the added opportunities, Syracuse still couldn’t put quality shots on the frame. Once UMass was able to steer off the opening half aggressiveness from Syracuse, the final 20 minutes of the match featured a lot of SU empty threats with UMass eventually clearing the ball down the field to kill off time on the clock.

Published on August 31, 2023 at 6:44 pm

Contact Aiden at: amstepan@syr.edu | @AidenStepansky