As Chiara Gutsche knocked the ball away from a Louisville forward, multiple Louisville defenders stood in front of her, but that didn’t matter. She sprinted past two, pushed the ball by another and spun away from the last. She fired a pass to a sprinting Carolin Hoffmann who was in on goal.

The junior tapped the ball in as No. 14 Syracuse (12-5, 3-3 Atlantic Coast) escaped No. 5 Louisville (14-4, 3-3) with a 2-1 win in overtime, its third top-5 win of the season. After a slow first half, the Orange crushed the Cardinals in the second, eventually finding the winner from Hoffmann in overtime.

Syracuse fell behind in the first half after Louisville knocked in a penalty corner. After goalkeeper Sarah Sinck deflected away a shot with her pad, the ball rolled to the right of the cage. Sophomore Laura Graziosi dove with her stick extended to try to push it away but Louisville’s Biz Allgeier got there first, tapping the ball into the goal. 

Following that late second quarter goal – and for most of the first half – SU struggled to mount pressure, totaling only one shot and no penalty corners in the first 30 minutes. That changed after the half. Syracuse’s press forced more turnovers, leading to more chances and two shots in the third quarter. 

One of those came from Hoffmann. Gutsche danced into the circle and fired a pass to the German-born midfielder, who slotted home the game’s tying goal, Hoffmann’s fourth of the season. 

The offense’s second half improvements coincided with stifling defense. Backs Claire Webb and Olivia Graham poked away pass-after-pass and stepped in front of various opportunities for the Cardinals. When Louisville’s Bethany Russ – who has nine goals on the year – tried to fire away shots, she often couldn’t find space. Orange sticks pestered Louisville and sent the ball back down the field toward SU forwards. 

Once overtime came, the Orange were in full control. They had stopped the momentum Louisville had in the first half. All they needed was a moment of brilliance of Gutsche. 

Entering a rematch with the Cardinals in the first round of the ACC tournament on Thursday, Nov. 7, Syracuse is well-positioned to make the NCAA tournament. No. 8 in RPI before traveling to Kentucky and an overtime win over the No. 5 team should alleviate any concerns. 

Published on November 2, 2019 at 3:34 pm

Contact Adam: adhillma@syr.edu | @_adamhillman