No. 7 Syracuse Field Hockey Stays Undefeated with 3-0 Shutout of UConn

By Max Gifford | @GiffMD

For No. 7 Syracuse field hockey, the penalty corner spot only breeded positive results in a 3-0 shutout over UConn. 

The Orange got two of its three scores on nine APC chances. Getting in on the corner carnival, Eefke van den Nieuwenhof scored her now team-leading seventh goal of the season and Willemijn Boogert picked up the trash on a short corner on a second-chance shot. The other SU goal scorer was Amber Coebergh, who registered her first goal of the season with nine seconds left in regulation.

For the Huskies, it was the exact opposite. UConn was denied on three consecutive penalty corner chances in a row late in the fourth quarter, giving goalkeeper Brooke Borzymowski her first shutout of this season and 11th of her career.

“We know that we’re always still ready for what’s about to come,” Borzymowski said postgame. “I think we have to have that shark mentality that we always talk about…I think when we have that shark mentality, it’s important to have it on [defense and] offense, too. And if you can keep hitting them, you’re bound to find a hole, [and] find a weakness.”

Borzymowski had two saves in her sixty minutes played, but she didn’t face nearly as much as UConn netminder Natalie McKenna. The freshman faced a career high 19 shots and made 9 saves along the way. 

McKenna didn’t have much help on the Huskies offensive end though. UConn didn’t register a shot until the 41st minute and would only get five total shots, which were all in the second half. In addition to those three late corners, the Huskies had four total and were blocked by either Borzymowski or the defense all four times. UConn has not scored on an APC opportunity this season.

“[A shark mentality] is something that is a Syracuse tradition and a spirit that lives within us and it’s really tough to go after it and compete all the time with an attacking threat at any moment,” Head Coach Lynn Farquhar said postgame. “That includes our defense being on cue as well. So any person can attack [but] we all attack together [and] we all defend together.