The Orange Drops Second Consecutive Game to Northwestern
By Nicole Weaving
Women’s Lacrosse Beat Reporter
No. 12 Syracuse (6-4, 0-2 Atlantic Coast) had just one day of rest before facing No. 11 Northwestern (7-3, 1-0 Big Ten). The Orange fought back in the second half against Notre Dame on Saturday, but still faltered in overtime.
On defense, Syracuse was late on slides and cutters while on offense, SU couldn’t take advantage of free position opportunities. Fouls, including four yellow cards, rounded out the problems. This cost the Orange the victory as it fell 14-10 to the Wildcats in Evanston.
During a five-goal NU run early the second half, the Orange let up two goals on the doorstep of the crease due to late shifts. While Northwestern was man-up, Alexa Radziewicz slid to a wide-open Meghan Duffy down by the crease. This put Kelzi Van Atta a step behind on Selena Lasota cutting through the center and let Lasota bury it low, practically one-on-one with Asa Goldstock.
Five minutes later, it happened again. Lasota passes to Shelbey Fredericks, both well covered. Holly Korn faked a pick and rolled toward the goal, putting Mia DiBello a step behind. She easily ran straight to the crease with no slide and shoveled the ball past Goldstock.
Asa Goldstock held her own in goal with 10 saves, but even she made lazy decisions. After a Wildcat turnover, Goldstock came up with the ball. Rather than taking her time on the clear, she forced it with Lasota right in front of her. Lasota intercepted the pass and put it over Goldstock’s right shoulder to start Northwestern’s scoring run.
Offensively, Syracuse did not execute on free position shots. The Orange came into this game ranked third nationally in free position shot percentage at 58.3%. This afternoon, SU went 0-5. NU Goalie Julie Krupnick saved three of them and Syracuse missed the other two.
To cap it off, the Orange committed 23 fouls and what’s worse is SU received four yellow cards, two of which the Wildcats scored on. Even when Syracuse had the opportunity to score while man-up, they turned the ball over and Northwestern scored.
Syracuse will look to break this two-game skid as they finish its five-game road trip against Princeton on Thursday.
@nicki_weaves | nlweavin@syr.edu
