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When Sunday’s game against Eastern Michigan ticked down to its final seconds, goalie Lysianne Proulx tossed up the ball, cranked back her right foot and punted a kick toward the center circle as EMU players retreated toward their sideline. On the right side of the field, Syracuse’s players began to group together. Freshman Pauline Machtens fell to the ground, landing on her back in exhilaration after a come-from-behind victory. It was the Orange’s second win of the season — they already exceeded their 2020 total wins after only three games of play. 

Through 20 shots, 13 corner kicks and 90 rocky minutes, Syracuse (2-1) stormed back to beat Eastern Michigan (0-4) 2-1. Just three games into its 2021 campaign, Syracuse has already surpassed its five goals from last year’s season and are tied for its most wins since 2019, which was Nicky Adams’ first season as head coach. 

After they left the field, SU players roared from the locker room at Ensley Athletic Center before Adams and senior Meghan Root emerged. When asked about passing last season’s paltry goal record, Adams walked through her past three years as head coach. She took over in April 2019 with a depleted roster, ran the team in the midst of COVID-19, went 1-7 in Atlantic Coast Conference play and has now landed here, opening the season with her senior forward standing behind her and a 2-1 record against non-conference teams.

“Our goal is a goal a game: that’s a 20-goal season,” Adams said. “I don’t know when that (last) happened in Syracuse, but that’s our ultimate goal is trying to create that. We’re getting there.”

In the first half of Sunday’s game, though, Syracuse didn’t create anything. Adams said SU’s working on the offense to “pull the trigger,” and even though they had the ammunition of six corner kicks, the Orange never hit their target. 

“At the end of the day, my team is creating chances — it’s not like we don’t have chances,” Adams said. “We have to put the ball into the back of the net. Plain and simple.”

Telly Vunipola advanced the ball, but through balls met the legs of EMU defenders. Jenna Tivnan beat her defender 33 minutes in, then stepped in the right side of the box and rifled a shot over EMU’s goal, but the ball flew over the post. As the clock dwindled under 11 minutes remaining, Natalie Weidenback moved to another corner on the right side of the field, trying — but failing — to connect on a header inside EMU’s box. As a result, the Orange entered halftime scoreless. 

At the 63-minute mark of the second half, Simone Chiodo lined up for a penalty shot off a Zoe Van de Cloot foul and yellow card. The shot was aimed for the right side of the goal, but Proulx deflected it, leaving her on the ground and a wide-open goal. As Syracuse and EMU players stormed inside the box, EMU midfielder Maddie O’Farrell knocked the ball inside the post just as Syracuse’s goalkeeper picked herself up.

Down 1-0, Adams called Root over and the two began “chessing people” together and developing a strategy in the hopes of coming back. The head coach said she almost switched to a 3-3-4 combination to bolster Syracuse’s frontline. 

But with 18 minutes left, Vunipola advanced the ball to the left side of the field, beating off her defender. Before she sprinted out of bounds, the senior midfielder sent another through ball into EMU’s box. The Eagles’ goalkeeper Rebecca Przybylo flung her body to the right side of her goal, ricocheting the shot off her arm, before Hannah Pilley tapped a shot into the left corner of the goal.

With three minutes remaining, a ball landed to Root, who lined up for a right foot chip shot out of the EMU’s box. Vunipola found it and rifled the ball to the right side. Once it landed in the back of the net, Syracuse surpassed the five total goals from last year.

Published on August 29, 2021 at 7:21 pm

Contact Christopher: [email protected] | @chrisscargs