Syracuse soars against Bucknell
While Syracuse football might’ve struggled in Pennsylvania, it was the exact opposite for 12th-ranked SU field hockey. The Orange cruised to victory over Bucknell 7-2 for its eleven win of the year. The win was headlined by four different scorers for Syracuse, with three of them having two goals. That’s the first time that’s happened since 2015. So, how’d it all go down in Lewisburg? Let’s dive into the entire contest and more.
Similar to how things went down in Charlottesville, it took the Orange a little while to get going in the game. SU’s Willemijn Boogert fired a shot 90 seconds in that went just high. Around the 10-minute mark, Syracuse’s Aiden Drabick got the first shot on the cage, but was stopped by goaltender Sarah Althouse. While the Orange had a couple of scoring chances, they had nothing to show for it after 15 minutes.
It didn’t take long for Syracuse to get on the board in the second quarter though. Just over two minutes into the frame, it was no other than Bo van Kempen from Berber Bakermans and Boogert off the APC to make it 1-0. The goal was van Kempen’s 13th of the year, a team-leading mark. Nearly six minutes later, van Kempen doubled up and scored again off another APC. The goal was assisted by Annabelle Vossenar and Lieke Leeganggers, putting the Orange up by two. Van Kempen has been near-unstoppable off the APC for Syracuse this season. The scoring wouldn’t end there though, Four minutes later, Boogert slotted one home from Lana Hamilton to increase the Orange lead to three. SU was buzzing heading into halftime holding a three-goal lead over Bucknell while also not allowing a Bison corner or shot in the 30 minutes.
In the third quarter, it was as if there was no halftime break. Just 64 seconds in, Hamilton scored her first goal of the season from Vivian Rowan to make it 4-0. The score marked three different goal-scorers for Syracuse, showing the diversification of the SU offense. There would be no more scoring in the third quarter, but the Orange controlled the rest to take a commanding lead into the fourth.
With Syracuse up big, head coach Lynn Farquhar opted to switch our goaltender Louise Pert for Vera Hekkenberg. Just 33 seconds into the quarter, Bucknell’s Lily Neilson got the Bison on the board off the APC from Kira Leclercq. The goal was Neilson’s 14th of the year. Coming into the contest, the forward ranked 5th in the nation for goals scored. The Orange would immediately though. Three minutes after the Bucknell score, Hamilton found the back of the cage from Bo Madden to make it 5-1. It’s as if the Orange and Bison were trading punches, as just two and a half minutes later Neilson would net a brace of her own assisted by Carlson-Pietraszek to cut the SU lead to three. As you might expect, the Bucknell momentum would not last for long with Boogert netting her second of the night off her own rebound four minutes later pushing SU’s advantage to four. The Orange weren’t done yet though. Around a minute after Boogert’s score, Rowan would add on one more for good measure from Bakermans making it 7-2 Syracuse.
The seven goals marked just the second time this season SU has scored 7+ times in a game. Along with that, Syracuse had three different multi-goal scorers for the first time in a contest since 2015. The Orange seek to stay hot on Sunday against #8 UCONN. Game time from Storrs is set for noon.
