For the first time all game, Sarah Sinck broke out of the Syracuse huddle and jogged toward the cage, adjusting her pads before the fourth quarter of a Sept. 13 game against St. Joseph’s. Sinck began to direct SU’s defenders. Over on the sideline, fellow goalie Syd Taylor took off her helmet and watched.

During ensuing timeouts, Taylor handed out water bottles from a crate. The goalkeeper who started the first three quarters picked up spirits as the Orange went to overtime. Taylor had allowed just one goal, but for the third time in six games, SU head coach Ange Bradley switched her goalie.

“There were just some things that I was seeing,” Bradley said after the game when asked about the goalie change.

Taylor hadn’t played poorly in No. 19 Syracuse’s (5-1) 2-1 win over then-No. 14 St. Joseph’s, Bradley said. Neither did she or Sinck in the season-opener against Vermont. Taylor, a sophomore, only conceded a goal after a penalty corner insertion pass was redirected to the right post, one Taylor had no chance at lunging across to cover. But at halftime, St. Joseph’s changed its attack to press more, sparking a switch.

As Syracuse’s season progresses into conference play, Bradley hasn’t stuck with a consistent starting goalie. If one starts and plays poorly, Bradley turns to the other. Sometimes, even if they play well, like against St. Joseph’s, she’ll replace them anyway. If an opponent’s attacking style adjusts, Bradley’s keeper will too.

“I’ve made switches in the second quarter, third quarter,” Bradley said. “I think they’re both very capable and I’m really pleased about that.”

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Until last March, the starting job was Taylor’s, and for good reason: She was the only goalie on Syracuse’s roster. Both goalies ahead of her on the depth chart — Emma Likly and Borg van der Velde — had left the team, and Taylor was the only one to play the position in spring training.

Despite only being 5-foot-4, Taylor has developed a style tailored to her. Instead of remaining in the cage and using leg kicks to turn shots away, she steps out to cut off angles and dives more often. “I’ve always been very short,” Taylor joked.

But then Sinck, an Eindhoven, Netherlands native, signed to play for Bradley and Taylor had competition. A given starting spot in the spring turned into an uncertain one for the fall. At 5-foot-9, Sinck could afford to stay put in cage on attacks and turn aside shots with her pads.

Overseas, Sinck suited up for a U-18 Netherlands roster that won the 2018 Girls’ EuroHockey Youth Championships. In her lone tournament appearance, she posted a shutout in 31 minutes against France.

When she reached out to Syracuse last December, Sinck said she wasn’t worried about playing a more-physical version of field hockey. It was just a “different experience.” Taylor immediately jumped in on helping with Sinck’s main transition: the goalie language passed down through the years.

“I try to be there for her, because we share playing time, and help her in a way that Borg helped me,” Taylor said.

Before the St. Joseph’s game, Sinck and Taylor alternated in goal as assistant coaches fired different types of shots toward them in pregame warmups. As other Syracuse players worked on quick passes and ball control in between cones, Taylor dropped her right foot behind the line before jumping out and defending a shot. She turned it aside, and was replaced by Sinck, who did the same.

“With the technical aspects of being able to have a spring to really develop and fine-tune some of the other things about Sinck, we really don’t have that time right now,” Bradley said. “With Syd, there’s been a lot of growth, a lot of maturity in her understanding of the game.”

The pair of goalies walked toward a group of sheds situated underneath the J.S. Coyne Stadium bleachers and left their goalie equipment after the win against St. Joseph’s. Taylor and Sinck returned in orange warm-up shirts and laughed as they joined the stretching circle back on the field. The fact they had again split time didn’t leave the field.

Published on September 19, 2019 at 12:19 am

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