No. 12 Syracuse falls to No. 4 Virginia in penalty shootout

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Mia Abello calmly walked up to the 25-yard line with Syracuse and Virginia knotted up at 2-2 in a penalty shootout. Abello had the chance to put the game away for the Cavaliers following a miss from SU. Freshman goaltender Vera Hekkenberg stood tall in the front of the net as the whistle blew.

Abello ran to the left side of Hekkenberg who dove, attempting to hit the ball away, but couldn’t knock it away. Hekkenberg was left lying on the ground and could only watch as Abello sunk her shot in the back of the net, giving the Cavaliers a 3-2 victory.

No. 12 Syracuse (10-4, 4-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) fell to No. 4 Virginia (11-2, 5-1 ACC) in a penalty shootout Friday. The loss marked the Orange’s second shootout loss of the season and snapped their four-game winning streak.

Both team’s offenses were uncharacteristically slow early on. A combined one shot between SU and UVA left the scoreboard blank 15 minutes through. Each team was also without a penalty corner in the first quarter.

As the second quarter got underway, SU’s backline held firm, while its offense gave it a cushion. Once again, no penalty corners were tried by either team, but UVA had two scoring opportunities. One came by Noa Boterman’s second shot of the day, which she pushed wide. The second shot was attempted by Lilly Hengerer, who had it blocked.

It took Syracuse until there was four minutes left in the half to record a shot. But when the Orange got a chance, they made it count. Taja Gans stole the ball and led a fast-break the other way. Gans struck the ball downfield to Hattie Madden, who found Berber Bakermans in the shooting circle.

Bakermans corralled the ball before she backhanded a shot to the right side of the net. The goal marked Bakerman’s first goal with the Orange and gave them a 1-0 lead into halftime.

Bakermans’ tally was SU’s lone shot in the half, while Virginia finished with three. However, the offensive momentum changed in the third quarter. UVA attempted six shots in two minutes and eight shots in the 15-minute span.

The Cavaliers earned four straight penalty corners, but they were unable to convert shots on any of them. Suze Leemans hit the post before Jans Croon and Abello’s shots, both of which were saved by Louise Pert. Following the denials, SU’s backline couldn’t clear the ball, leading to another Abello shot, which was blocked by a defender.

After one last shot was saved by Pert, UVA eventually knotted the game up at one apiece. Emma Watchilla tallied her fifth goal of the season after dribbling through a group of SU defenders. Pert couldn’t adjust her position and was unable to save the shot.

However, just seven minutes later, Syracuse regained the lead through Bo van Kempen. Willemijn Boogert was fouled in the shooting circle, leading to SU’s first corner of the day. Boogert presented a clean insertion to Bakermans, who set van Kempen up to put it past Virginia’s Nilou Lempers.

With a 2-1 lead heading into the fourth quarter of play, Syracuse put itself in a position for the upset. Meanwhile, Virginia had other ideas.

With four minutes remaining, SU had defended three consecutive shots. While Virginia constantly attacked SU’s backline, a mix of Boogert, Gans and van Kempen held strong.

After UVA’s constant pressure, Meghen Hengerer finally drew a penalty corner, UVA’s eighth of the day. The midfielder inserted the ball to Emily Field, who trapped it for Croon. Croon loaded up and struck the ball past SU’s Pert to tie the game at 2-2.

Syracuse didn’t score in the remaining time of regulation, leading to its third overtime contest of the season.

For most of the 20 minutes of overtime action, Syracuse and Virginia were passive, constantly passing the ball back to their backlines to control possession for a final shot. With 41 seconds remaining, Syracuse had a pristine chance to put the game away.

Aiden Drabick pushed the ball forward on a fast-break opportunity. The midfielder drove it past UVA’s goaltender but shot high, as it hit the top of the crossbar.

But Syracuse kept going. Annabelle Vossenaar was fouled with eight seconds remaining and van Kempen lined up to take a penalty corner shot. The defender leads SU in goals, with 12 on the year. After a clean insertion and trap, van Kempen pushed the ball just left as time expired.

Following two made shots by UVA in its first four attempts, Syracuse was in dire need of goals. The Orange hadn’t scored in the shootout and were down to van Kempen and Bakermans, their two previous goal-scorers on the day. After van Kempen converted, Watchilla missed, keeping Syracuse alive. Bakermans walked up to the 25-yard line before spinning past Lempers and scoring.

The score was 2-2 in the penalty shootout through five shots, meaning it was time for sudden death. Syracuse sent out van Kempen, who, with no trouble, scored for the Orange. Boterman matched her, though, when she put it past Hekkenberg.

Bakermans came up again, but put the ball just wide to give UVA a game-winning opportunity. The Cavaliers set up Abello, who put it past Hekkenberg to close out the dramatic win.

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