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In the 86th minute, Syracuse lined up for its third corner kick of the game as the clock ticked down. Natalie Weidenbach stood over the ball and sent in a high cross. The ball was cleared by a Louisville player and fell to the feet of Syracuse midfielder Liesel Odden, who sent a tame shot toward Cardinals goalkeeper Gabby Kouzelos. The ball bounced out of bounds for a goal kick, and the score stayed 1-1.

Just four minutes later, Louisville was celebrating in Syracuse’s net after a last-minute penalty kick winner as SU players stared off into the distance. 

“For any team to lose like that, you feel gutted,” Syracuse head coach Nicky Adams said.

In Syracuse’s (4-4-1, 0-2-0 Atlantic Coast) 2-1 loss against Louisville (6-1-1, 2-0-0 ACC), the Orange had plenty of chances to set up goal-scoring opportunities. But SU was outshot 16-9 due to its inability to find the final pass or touch on the ball in the final third of the field for most of the game.

Syracuse and Louisville both pressed high in the first half, leading to plenty of chances and misplaced passes from both sides. SU was unable to convert on any opportunities during the first 45 minutes of the game. Adams said the team is still getting used to playing with the personnel available due to various injuries. 

“It’s new players playing with each other. Trying to get a rhythm with new players and their runs,” Adams said.

Telly Vunipola, one of SU’s injured players, missed Thursday’s game, and her absence had a large impact on the offense’s flow. In the first half against Louisville, Syracuse had trouble replacing Vunipola — its normal target player — and had to learn how her replacements move on the field. The Orange were forced to interchange strikers, including forward Hannah Pilley and defender Kate Murphy, until they found consistency on offense. 

“Anytime you have people out, you would love to have those people. Everyone is important,” forward Meghan Root said.

SUs conversion in the final third was scarce in the first half. Root had a chance to open the scoring in the ninth minute after she received the ball at midfield and rushed toward the goal. Her effort from the edge of the box was to the right of Kouzelos, who comfortably saved the opportunity. The Orange would again have another opportunity in the 11th minute after a deflected shot landed in front of Pilley. The forward couldn’t get a touch on the ball, and Kouzelos again easily collected the ball. 

Louisville opened the scoring in the 13th minute after Delaney Snyder received the ball in the box on the right side. Snyder sent a powerful low shot toward the bottom left corner, beating a diving Lysianne Proulx.

The Orange again failed in the final third in the 20th minute when Kouzelos smothered another pass in front of Pilley. Root again had a shot on goal saved in the 29th minute after seeing another shot blocked two minutes earlier. 

At halftime, Adams said she stressed the necessity to complete two consecutive passes to challenge the Cardinals. In the second half, SU stayed aggressive, diving into more tackles and putting in more passes toward Louisville’s goal. In the 49th minute, Syracuse was able to string multiple passes together to set up freshman Kylen Grant in the box. Her low effort was saved as the keeper came out of her normal position to push the ball away. 

In the 59th minute, Grant again had an opportunity to help SU equalize, but the end result was the same. Her hard cross was not accurate enough, allowing Kouzelos to clear the ball away for a corner. Murphy had an even better chance to level the score but she, too, failed to hit the target. Murphy won the ball back off a Louisville defender but failed to beat the out-of-positioned keeper, sending her effort into the side netting. 

The Orange’s plethora of misplaced passes was finally made up for in the 68th minute after Kendyl Lauher sent a threaded through ball toward Root. After finding herself one-on-one with the keeper, Root lifted a chipped effort over Kouzelos’ outstretched hands, scoring just under the crossbar.

The Orange would continue to press up the field, looking for a winning goal until the last minute. Their efforts were cut short after Emma Klein knocked into a Cardinal attacker in the last minute of the game. Defender Anouk Denton placed her penalty kick into the top right corner to win the game for Louisville.

“In the ACC, you are playing the best teams in the country,” Root said. “Every single minute, you have to compete and you have to be switched on. Credit to the group because we did that a lot more in the second half.”

Published on September 23, 2021 at 11:01 pm

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