Syracuse Rains on Princeton’s Senior Day Parade with 2-0 Shutout
By Max Gifford | @GiffMD
In its week away from ACC play, No. 12 Syracuse field hockey came into New Jersey for a matinee matchup on Princeton’s senior day and blanked the Tigers, 2-0.
In what you could call a defensive-minded first quarter, the only offense either team could muster was a single SU shot. On pace for a four shot game in total, Princeton would put up two shots of its own in the second 15 minutes, but that would be the closest the Tigers would get for the rest of the afternoon.
With time waning in the second quarter, PU’s backline had a blunder inside the circle, giving Syracuse a late penalty stroke opportunity. The Orange would take a 1-0 lead on that gift, as Eefke van den Nieuwenhof put home her ACC-leading 12th goal of the season with 2:27 remaining.
With a one score lead at the halftime break, SU dominated the rest of the way through. The ‘Cuse didn’t allow Princeton any more shots or even chances for that matter. The Tigers were unable to find any sort of offensive spark throughout the whole contest and let their goalkeeper Robyn Thompson out to dry.
Despite only making four saves, the PU netminder stood on her head facing 11 shots, with a majority of them coming in the second half, where Princeton could find no edge on its attacking end. The only other blemish on Thompson’s stat sheet was a late third quarter goal after a successful conversion on a penalty corner on a one timer shot by SU’s Willemijn Boogert.
On the other side, Brooke Borzymowski only faced two tests and was up to the task on both of them. This was a much needed bounce back performance from the junior after allowing six goals a week ago against Harvard. This marked Borzymowski’s second shutout of this season and 12th of her career.
While both teams managed to keep play in between the top of the circles for most of the contest, the Orange continued to swarm their attacking side all afternoon and keep the ball off the sticks of the Tigers, and that was ultimately the difference when all was said and done.
Syracuse is back in the win column after the shutout victory, but the Orange’s biggest test awaits when they return to ACC play next week. Defending NCAA champions and No. 1 North Carolina comes to Coyne on Friday where new head coaches Lynn Farquhar and Erin Matson will face off for the first time against each other. First push between SU and UNC is set for 4 p.m.
