Megan Carney cycled behind Molly Carter. The sophomore used a handoff to get a step on her defender and, after taking two more strides, whistled a shot into the top right corner of the net from outside the 8-meter arc. It was her fourth of the game, and it put SU up 12-1. There was nothing Albany’s goalie, Georg Schneidereith, could do besides pick the ball out of the back of the net. 

In a game when Syracuse’s most prolific scorer ever, Katie Rowan, coached against it, the Orange (2-1) offense took center stage. SU shutout Albany 8-0 in the first half en route to a 15-3 win over Albany (0-1). Carney paced the Orange with five goals, and seven different white jerseys found the back of the net. 

“It’s just nice to be able to get back out and rebound quickly after that loss Monday,” head coach Gary Gait said, “Get back on track to where we want to be.” 

To start, Morgan Widner took the draw rather than Emily Hawryschuk. Gait said he wanted Hawryschuk to “play some attack upfield from the draw.” It still took eight minutes for the senior and the rest of the offense to get going.

Twice in the early going, the Orange lost possession trying to slip the ball to a cutting Hawryschuk for the shot. On Syracuse’s first free-position opportunity from the 8-meter arc, senior Morgan Alexander yanked a shot over the Albany goalie and halfway up the orange seats behind the end zone. 

Three minutes later, Hawryschuk tried to beat Schneidereith with a sidearm shot. The ball thudded off the goalie’s padding and was once again cleared by the Great Danes. 

With 22 minutes to play, though, the preseason All-American would not be denied. Hawryschuk drew an illegal checking foul, giving her a free-position shot that she’d deposit herself for a 1-0 Syracuse lead. Ella Simkins promptly controlled the ensuing draw, and junior Sam Swart put SU up by two 34 seconds later. 

Hawryschuk scored her second goal of the game four minutes later. Even with the Orange a man down due to an Allyson Trice yellow card, Alexander controlled in the offensive zone before finding the cutting Hawryschuk for her 15th goal of the season. 

On the other end, the defense forced Albany to run down the possession clock before turning the ball over. Trice controlled before dishing to Asa Goldstock. The goalie jogged all the way to up to the 45-yard line on SU’s side of the field before floating a pass over the defense to Kerry Defliese. Defliese flung the ball out to her left to Hawryschuk, who took a step and dished to Carney for a 4-0 Syracuse lead. 

“It was a great half on the D side, which allowed us to get a flow on the offense,” Gait said, “so I thought great overall team effort.”

The Orange would get four more goals before the end of the half while holding the Great Danes scoreless. Carney and Swart each capitalized on free-position opportunities, an area the Orange went just 3-for-8 in during their 17-16 loss to No. 10 Stony Brook on Monday. 

In the second half, the Orange picked up right where they left off. Sophomore Sierra Cockerille drew a shooting space foul 28 seconds in. Once the whistle sounded, she opted not to shoot but rather dish to her right and find a wide-open Mary Rahal. Rahal buried the open look, and the Orange’s lead was now nine. 

“We practice that a lot,” Swart said, “When is a good time to take a shot and when is not basically, so at practice we do that a lot.” 

Following a successful clearance three minutes later, Cockerille kept this one to herself. The sophomore scored an unassisted goal, her fifth of the season, and Syracuse had built their lead to double-digits. 

After senior Cara Quimby scored her first goal of the season to stretch the lead to 11, Rowan called a timeout. Hannah Van Middelem replaced Goldstock, who recorded her first-career shutout with three saves — just one game removed from being benched. Other Syracuse starters began to cycle out of the game as well. 

“There’s no better feeling than all our teammates getting on the field,” Goldstock said, “and I love it and I love getting up on teams enough to have the opportunity.”

Goldstock had few worries all morning, in large part due to another strong offensive performance that kept the entire game out of reach. Syracuse outshot the Great Danes 33-12, including 22-4 in that dominant first half. 

“Going back at it tomorrow we want to accomplish the same thing,” Goldstock said, “So we’ll drink a lot of coffee and be excited to play at 8 p.m.” 

Published on February 15, 2020 at 3:20 pm

Contact Tim: tnolan@syr.edu