No. 4 Syracuse Field Hockey Edged 2-1 by No. 3 Virginia After a Late Stroke

No. 4 Syracuse field hockey controlled the pace and held No. 3 Virginia without a single shot in the first half. But after the break, the script flipped. The Cavaliers came out aggressive and handed the Orange a disappointing 2-1 loss. SU head coach Lynn Farquhar minced no words about the momentum shift.

“I think it’s understanding here’s a tempo shift in a game and how do you control tempo shifts? What we’re doing right now with our responses isn’t good enough. And when you’re going to have a very vertical, very fast team going at your body, we have to do something different, especially going into next weekend. So good on UVA for accelerating and going very vertical through spaces incredibly fast. We have to be stronger with our defensive positioning, so we’re earning the fouls opposed to 50-50 calls,” Farquhar said.

SU put numbers on the board first, but Virginia came out of the half scoring one in the third and sealing the deal with a stroke, with just one minute left in play. Farquhar said the Orange had plenty of opportunities but just couldn’t finish.

“What do stats tell you though, right? It’s finishing moments. We can do it, we have it, we gotta put it together. [In the first] first half we moved the ball well, and like I said, there’s a tempo shift. When pressure changes, we have to be able to go around the pressure. There was definitely a lot of success, and now it’s getting a number on a board,” she added.

The Orange still chase their first ACC victory and have a chance to do so on Friday, as they host  No. 7 Duke. That game will also honor the 2015 Syracuse Field Hockey National Championship Team, as well as have Alyssa Manley’s jersey retired. Reporting from J.S. Coyne Stadium, Sydney Chan, CitrusTV.