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There were 32 seconds left in Thursday’s night game, but Emma Klein crashed into Louisville’s Julia Simon while streaking for the ball in the box. The game was tied 1-1, and the referee stopped and waited for a few seconds before blowing his whistle to give Louisville a penalty kick.

Anouk Denton rifled the penalty right-footed into the top of the goal, and Lysianne Proulx stood by her goal’s right side as the final seconds waned off. Other Syracuse players tucked their heads down as they approached Syracuse’s bench.

“I don’t think anybody’s pleased for a game to end so abruptly with that call,” said Nicky Adams, Syracuse’s head coach. “I felt if the referee was 100% certain that the whistle would’ve been blown immediately. He took some time before he blew it which makes me wonder if he was sure in his decision or not.”

In its closest game against an ACC opponent this season, Syracuse (4-4-1, 0-2 Atlantic Coast) kept up with Louisville (6-1-1, 2-0 ACC) for 89 minutes, despite losing Jenna Tivnan, Telly Vunipola and Alina Miagkova, three starters that have bolstered the Orange in their previous games. SU kept up its conference competition, but they were unable to finish the game after a late-whistle penalty goal with less than a minute left.

Despite Denton’s last-minute goal, Syracuse had a strong showing on its defensive end, limiting the Cardinals to seven shots on goal without Tivnan. It’s an improvement from the Orange’s last ACC matchup against Notre Dame, who torched the Orange with 13 shots.

But at the start of the first half, Louisville controlled the ball and thrived off offensive transition against an unstable Syracuse backline, one without its primary center back Tivnan. Five minutes in, Denton lined up a shot at the left edge of Syracuse’s box while its defense was fully settling in.

Proulx blocked the ball, but six minutes later, the Orange ended up in the same position while Louisville’s Delaney Snyder kicked from inside of the box. Keeping on Syracuse’s side, Snyder netted a goal on her second attempt into the left corner, a goal that passed a sliding Proulx.

The SU players eventually eased into their roles — Adams said Kate Murphy played three different positions Thursday night to help fill her team’s injured roster. Meghan Root, who mainly plays as Syracuse’s striker, switched wings throughout the game. The forward was fed through balls and beat off Louisville defenders when approaching the goal, but she couldn’t get a steady shot off. In the first half, Pauline Machtens passed to Root, who right-foot shot at 18-yards toward the center of the goal, only for the ball to be saved by Louisville goalie Gabby Kouzelos.

Louisville limited Syracuse to zero corner kicks within the first half. During the period, Adams touched on increasing the game’s intensity, specifically pressing and running the through ball more. Sure enough, 67 minutes in, Kendyl Lauher hit one toward a streaking Root on the right side of an open field. With Kouzelos standing on the edge of the penalty box and two Louisville inbounding, Root chipped the shot in for the tie.

“I was just trying to think creatively,” Root said. “When you’re in front of the goal, the best thing to do is go with muscle memory and do it.”

Syracuse teetered back and forth with the Cardinals in the final 18 minutes. The Orange’s last corner kick was cleared out almost immediately by Louisville’s defense. Then the penalty was called, and a quiet Syracuse stretch line with blank stares was all that was left after the game.

“The decision was made by the referee,” Adams said. “We got to roll with it.”

Published on September 23, 2021 at 11:34 pm

Contact Christopher: [email protected] | @chrisscargs