Orange Win First Game in Double Header Against Wake Forest
By Tara Arya
CitrusTV’s Field Hockey Beat Reporter
It was a tale of two halves in Winston-Salem today as Syracuse’s offense heated up in the second half. In the first 30 minutes, the Orange were outshot 7-1 with no corner shots to match Wake Forest’s four. The Demon Deacons were the first to score, ending their first quarter scoring drought this season. Five minutes into the game, Syracuse forward Charlotte de Vries found the goal, her second of the season and seventeenth of her career. However, that would be the most Syracuse’s offense would see in the first half.
The Orange defense kept rolling and allowed the offense to get things going later in the game. In the first half, Goalkeeper Syd Taylor helped Syracuse stay in the game with two saves on five shots faced. Wake Forest had several close chances near the goal, but the backline defense denied all but one.
After halftime, the defense continued to shine, but now the offense started to heat up. Syracuse outshot Wake Forest 5-1 in the third quarter, with four corners. Despite this, it would still be a tie game heading into the fourth, even after all of those opportunities.
The final fifteen minutes saw Syracuse attacking more aggressively than before, with six shots to Wake Forest’s three. Just over 49 minutes in, Carly Bothof took advantage of Wake Forest goalie Ally Butler losing track of the ball and tapped one in. Bothof tallied her first career goal for the Orange and what would ultimately become the game-winning goal.
On the defensive end, Syd Taylor finished the game with three saves on eleven shots faced. For the offense, Charlotte de Vries looks to have found her rhythm this season, with four shots in this game, one of those converting into a goal. Tess Queen, Eefke van den Niewenhof and Florine van Boetzelaer all finished with two shots as well.
The Orange move to 2-3 overall and 2-2 in Atlantic Coast play. They’ll face Wake Forest again tomorrow at noon in a non-conference matchup.
taarya@syr.edu | @TaraArya98
