Lysianne Proulx hunched over in her 18-yard box. With her hands on her knees, Proulx shook her head ever so slightly. Her eyes gazed forward at a Syracuse defense that failed her all game, allowing seven shots on goal and numerous other chances sent wide by the Notre Dame attackers.

Proulx’s pose mirrored across the two halves, both times five minutes into the frame. Notre Dame (8-4-0, 2-2-0 Atlantic Coast) easily cracked an SU (2-7-2, 0-3-1) defense, winning 3-0 on Friday night in South Bend, Indiana, to keep the Orange winless in ACC play.

Once again, SU struggled against a conference foe. It registered no shots for the first time since Oct. 18 of last season and spent the majority of time in its own half defending. The Fighting Irish left just two defenders at the midfield line while pushing their fullbacks deep into the SU zone to help the attack.

Like their last two games, the Orange sat plenty of players behind the ball. When they were able to advance the ball past midfield, there were no options for a move forward. Multiple times, the midfield and even the front-three had no choice but to play the ball back to the defenders or commit a turnover.

Notre Dame’s Sammi Fisher lobbed a cross over her head five minutes into the game, and Eva Hurm was there to head the ball past a flat-footed Proulx.

UND found plenty more space between the Syracuse backline the rest of the first half. Olivia Wingate stayed on the shoulder of one SU center back before making runs in behind to try and get on the end of long balls. She nearly reached one, but Proulx sharply came off her line to snatch the ball.

Fisher nearly scored soon after when the ball was slotted into her in the box. The two SU center backs came together to make diving challenges and block the shot, nearly giving up a penalty in the process.

The Irish also exploited the wide spaces and one-on-ones against Syracuse fullbacks, who have been susceptible to those attacks throughout the season. In SU’s 3-0 loss to Louisville a week ago, head coach Nicky Adams lamented her team’s “selfish” defense. Against UND, there was hardly any defense played at all. The fullbacks were skipped past and could do nothing to prevent crosses.

Notre Dame nearly doubled its lead in the 21st minute, this time with Hurm providing. Her cross nearly found the head of a Notre Dame player in the box before it fell to another at the edge of the six-yard box. She couldn’t get the shot off, and SU cleared the danger.

The first half ended with the scoreline remaining 1-0, but five minutes into the second frame, Kailey Brenner gave the ball away in SU’s box to Hurm. She cut the ball back in from the byline, and it went off SU center back Taylor Bennett’s foot and into the goal. Proulx again hunched over and shook her head.

As the game wore on, Syracuse’s lack of closing down became an issue. Luisa Delgado nearly snuck a long shot past Proulx 15 minutes into the second half. The ACC leader in saves uncharacteristically could not fully get behind the dipping ball. But she got enough on it to push it wide for a corner.

Just a few minutes later, Delgado was able to beat Proulx. Cutting to her right foot at the “D” on top of the box, she sent a looping effort too high for the 5-foot-7 goalie’s arms to reach.

With more confidence, Notre Dame continued to surge forward. Kiki Van Zanten cut the ball back in the box to Hurm, whose low shot was legged away by Proulx. Van Zanten then fired a shot of her own from outside the box which was parried by Proulx, giving up a harmless short rebound.

Proulx added five saves to her ACC-leading tally on Friday night and remained top-five in save percentage. But the enduring image of her night was hunched over, hands on knees giving a subtle shake of her head.

No matter how well she played, Syracuse still couldn’t earn a point against its ACC foe.

Published on October 4, 2019 at 9:41 pm

Contact Arabdho: armajumd@syr.edu | @aromajumder