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Trailing by six entering the second quarter of Syracuse’s contest against Northwestern, head coach Kayla Treanor and her staff implemented a zone defense to thwart the Wildcats’ potent attack. But the plan quickly turned into a disaster as Northwestern, led by Izzy Scane and Erin Coykendall, picked apart SU’s defense for eight first-quarter goals.

So, in order to stop Scane — the defending Tewaaraton award winner who averaged 4.95 goals a season ago — Treanor tasked freshman Kaci Benoit with man-marking her.

Despite Scane’s renown, Benoit was far from overmatched. In her nearly 45 minutes of one-on-one defense on Scane, Benoit held her to two goals, allowing Syracuse to cut the once six-goal deficit to one late in the fourth. No. 5 Syracuse (0-1, 0-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) eventually fell 18-15 to No. 1 Northwestern (1-0, 0-0 Big Ten), but throughout the final three quarters, Benoit proved she has the ability to match up with — and lock down — the best players in the nation.

“She was unbelievable,” Treanor said of Benoit postgame. “I think she is one of our best defenders and to do that in game one, and to guard Izzy Scane is pretty impressive.”

Coming out of Darien High School in Connecticut, Benoit was an All-American and the 2023 class’ No. 12 ranked player as a defender. Yet, in an impressive SU class, which consists of high-powered offensive recruits like Alexa Vogelman (No. 5) and Ashlee Volpe (No. 21), it was Benoit that made an instant impact. Vogelman and Volpe did not enter Syracuse’s opening game.

With SU opening the game in a zone, Benoit guarded the middle right area of the 12-meter as Bianca Chevarie covered the right crease and Natalie Smith covered up top. But Scane and Coykendall easily exploited the zone, moving the ball too fast for defenders to slide to the open spaces.

With this method, Scane tallied an assist and a goal in the opening frame. But as the second quarter opened and SU trailed by six, Benoit’s focus shifted solely to Scane, face-guarding her from up to 25 meters from the goal.

Benoit’s ability to keep up with Scane showed while the Orange were still in their zone defense in the first quarter. With 2:55 remaining, the Wildcats set up inside, swinging the ball around until they found a desired matchup. Lindsey Frank and Dylan Amonte passed right to left until it reached Scane along the goal line.

Scane, seeing Benoit in front of her, rushed toward the goal. Benoit forced Scane just enough toward the ensuing pressure from Chevarie, forcing a weak, inaccurate shot that Delaney Sweitzer easily corralled.

In the first six minutes of the man-to-man play, the SU defense that had given up eight goals a period ago had allowed just one. But eventually, Scane broke through in the second quarter by beating Benoit off of a pick play, giving her an extra step before Smith could rotate over to help in time. Though for the rest of the stretch, Benoit held her at bay and SU cut its six-goal deficit to four.

As Benoit continued to closely face-guard Scane, she was let off the scoresheet. From her second-quarter goal at the 8:54 mark to her fourth-quarter goal with under four minutes left in the game, Scane didn’t record a single point.

In the beginning of the second half, as SU climbed closer with three out of the first four goals of the period, Northwestern’s attack attempted to utilize screens, off-ball and on-ball, to free up Scane.

With under five minutes remaining in the third, Scane and Coykendall set picks on Benoit and Katie Goodale. The rest of the team cleared to the right side while Coykendall and Scane worked on the left in a two-on-two.

After multiple attempts, Scane finally switched Goodale on to her, shifting Benoit on to Coykendall. SU’s defense recovered quickly and squeezed to Scane as she approached the goal, forcing her to pass off to Madison Taylor.

With the play broken down, Taylor forced a pass inside to Coykendall, but Benoit denied the pass, forcing a turnover.

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As Scane’s scoring drought continued, she grew frustrated. Benoit continuously trailed Scane, pushing her to gain positioning and forcing her into two turnovers and two called charges.

Over halfway through the third, Scane drove off the goal line to the top of the 12-meter with Benoit defending on her left hip. As she attempted to quickly spin to the right due to Benoit’s pressure, she fell directly into Goodale’s help-defense, turning the ball over on a charging penalty.

A similar scenario occurred later in the frame. Scane collected the ball at the top left of the 12-meter and attempted to turn the corner into a right-handed, cross body shot. But Benoit stayed step-for-step with her to force Scane behind the net. Scane spun back around and emerged from behind the net, yet Benoit followed her to the very end, creating pressure and baiting her into a charge.

As her scoring drought continued into the fourth quarter, Scane’s frustration reached its peak. Syracuse scored two early goals to cut further into the deficit, but as Smith attempted to drive into the offensive zone, Scane committed a blatant hit to the head from behind. Northwestern’s top player stayed on the sideline for a one-minute penalty.

Scane eventually broke through, ending her drought with 3:37 remaining to give the Wildcats a commanding three-goal lead. But throughout her first-career game, Benoit showed an ability to guard the most accomplished attack in the sport, proving that Treanor’s early decision was the right one.

“I think you saw today why she’s starting. She’s an amazing defender and she played phenomenal,” Treanor said. “Her future is very bright. And it was just great to watch her play in her first game.”

Published on February 11, 2024 at 9:08 pm

Contact Aiden at: [email protected] | @AidenStepansky