Syracuse Falls in 6-1 Drumming at UNC
By Hudson Ridley | @Hudson_Ridley
Syracuse women’s soccer was completely overrun in a 6-1 loss to North Carolina on Sunday. After a season that has been marred by statistically bad performances, this one was the worst.
From the jump, UNC put the pressure on. SU Goalkeeper Shea Vanderbosch faced a barrage of early shots and breakaway attempts. However, the Tarheels had a difficult time breaking through. Vanderbosch had the game of a lifetime. Not counting the multiple point-blank one-on-one saves that were called back for offsides, Vanderbosch tallied 13 saves, but it wasn’t nearly enough.
The Tarheels took a whopping 42 shots. That’s the tenth most for a single team in a game this season. To make matters worse, after 90 minutes SU’s total sat at three. Being outshot 42-3 and losing in the shots on goal margin 19-2 is about as lopsided as it gets.
Without Shea Vanderbosch in the net, the numbers in the score columns would have looked drastically different. For the first 35 minutes, Vanderbosch single-handedly kept the Orange in the contest. It wasn’t until UNC converted a tap-in at the mouth of that goal that the opportunities started flowing. The Tarheels tacked on one more to go into the halftime locker room up 2-0. But that was just the beginning. Immediately after coming out for the second half, UNC made it three. Erin Flurey drew SU one closer by firing a low drive that took a deflection and found the back of the net. After that, it was all Tarheels for the rest of the contest. UNC had a quick answer to the Flurey goal and before the dust settled tacked on two more.
The Orange were dominated the most in the possession category. The Tarheels held 74% of the possession and had the ball on SU’s side 80% of the time. In contrast, on the Orange’s 26% possession, the ball was in the attacking fourth of the field for 4% of the time. That’s three and a half minutes of a 90-minute contest.
Next up for Syracuse is its final match of the season. The Orange play host to Virginia on Thursday, October 26th at 7:00.
For more coverage of Syracuse women’s soccer, you can follow @Hudson_Ridley and @CitrusTVSports on X and Threads.
