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As the seconds ticked off the clock in the second half, Kate Hostage drove down the right side of Virginia’s box. Stumbling for a second, Hostage momentarily peered over at the referee, who shouted “play on.” The redshirt junior rose back to her feet to drive into the box, where she was tripped up again for a penalty.

After a brief conversation with Jenna Tivnan, who had already scored Sunday, Hostage stepped up to take the penalty kick. A quick run up sent Virginia goalkeeper Cayla White the wrong way as Hostage slotted the ball into the right side of the net.

It was a moment of redemption for the redshirt junior, who returned this season from her second torn ACL and notched her first goal of the season with the spot-kick. But when the final whistle sounded just 10 seconds later, it was yet another loss.

“I was hoping for a bit of a better result for the seniors,” head coach Nicky Adams said. “It can be a very emotional game, and it can get the best of you or it can get the worst of you, and I think it was a combination of both for us.”

On a cold, windy afternoon at the SU soccer stadium, Syracuse (1-7, 1-7 Atlantic Coast Conference) fell to No. 10 Virginia (7-2-1, 5-2-1 ACC) 5-3. In their program history, the Orange have never won fewer than three games, but in 2020’s shortened season, Syracuse picked up only one win in eight games. Sunday was yet another game in which Syracuse showed glimpses of strong play but fell apart and gifted Virginia the lead.

“I thought the first 15 minutes was completely poor on our part,” Adams said. “We were not ready to play. It could’ve been senior jitters or the emotion of the game, but I thought the first 15 minutes was poor.”

The Orange started out poorly, as UVA almost scored directly from kickoff. Cavaliers’ winger Rebecca Jarrett breezed past Alina Miagkova and dribbled around Lindsey Brick to rifle a shot just over the crossbar. The move was a sign of things to come. Just eight minutes in, a Cavaliers’ through ball split Miagkova and Brick, and Jarrett was in on goal. Jarrett’s square ball to Alexa Spaanstra led to an easy tap in, and it was 1-0 to the Cavaliers.

Lysianne Proulx set the program for saves per game but couldn’t prevent Syracuse from conceding five goals to Virginia. Corey Henry | Senior Staff Photographer

Miagkova swapped sides with Clarke Brown after the goal, but that didn’t stop UVA, as the Cavaliers’ scored on their very next shot. Another through ball, this time on the right side of the field, split Miagkova and Tivnan and found its way to Anna Sumpter. The midfielder held off Brick and fired in at the near post to give the Cavaliers a two-goal lead. In just the first 10 minutes, UVA recorded two goals on five shots, while the Orange managed just one shot.

“We came out slow and they put two away on us early, and I think it kind of woke us up a bit, and we had (Lysianne Proulx) to save us on a lot,” Shannon Aviza said.

Proulx continued to make saves to keep some hope of a Syracuse comeback alive. Sunday marked the sixth time this season that Proulx has had to make at least nine saves. She finished with 73 saves on the season this game, securing the Syracuse record for saves per game with 9.13. The record had stood for 14 years, when Candice Hofmann recorded 7.60 saves per game in 2006.

The two goals seemed to wake the Orange up, as they found some momentum halfway through the first half. Just over a minute after UVA’s second goal, the Orange won a free-kick near the Virginia box. Brick’s ensuing free kick found the head of Tivnan, who scored her second goal in as many games. Syracuse’s celebrations were muted, as the team huddled near midfield while the Orange attempted to rally and find another goal.

As the first half continued, the teams entered a stalemate that wasn’t broken until the 31st minute. There was a similar strike to the Cavalier’s second goal, as this time Diana Ordonez held off Tivnan and scored with a deft touch over Proulx. But the Orange stormed back again seven minutes later with another set-piece, as a corner originally aimed for Tivnan found its way to an unmarked Aviza, who headed the ball in.

Syracuse pressed for an equalizer after the goal made the score 3-2, but the halftime whistle saw a one-win Syracuse team down only one goal to the ranked Cavaliers.

“We were able to put away two goals and really stay in it, 3 to 2 against Virginia, against one of the nationally-ranked teams,” Aviza said. “But coming out in the second half, I don’t think we started with that same energy again, and we were punished for it.”

If the first half provided a glimpse into a promising future for a rebuilding Syracuse team, the second half was a harsh reminder of the work that still needs to be done. Outshot 9-2 in the second half, Syracuse didn’t test the Virginia net until the 84th minute and couldn’t create any set-piece opportunities that provided the two goals in the first half until Hostage’s penalty in the dying seconds of the game.

“I’m not happy that we won one game,” Adams said. “You look back on the season and again, we have put 45-minute games together throughout — Louisville, Boston College, Pitt — if you can’t put 90 together, you’re not gonna win games. I would be lying if I said I’m okay with a 1-7 record, and I’m not.”

Published on November 1, 2020 at 5:38 pm

Contact Gaurav: gshetty@syr.edu