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On a crisp October evening, Syracuse (6-10-1, 2-6-0 ACC) faced off against Miami (5-10-0, 2-6-0 ACC) in hopes of securing their second win in as many games. They had every intention of giving the home crowd what they came to see.
In the beginning of the broadcast, the ESPN3 announcers focused their attention on team-leading goal scorer Gracie Lachowecki, a junior forward. Lachowecki has eight goals and one assist for 17 points. She has really come on strong as the season winds down, earning two-straight ACC Offensive Player of the Week awards the past two weeks. Against NC State two weeks ago, she knotted her first-career hat trick in a double overtime victory. The Hurricanes have two goal keepers that they have worked with throughout the year, but redshirt-sophomore Catalina Perez has gotten the call since September 27th. To date, she has allowed 14 goals and saved 35 for a 1.855 goals-against average and a .714 save percentage. Her most notable game was the double overtime clean sheet she posted against then-number 14 Notre Dame to seal the victory.
The first half of last night's match saw a lot of action, but no goal scoring. They played stride-for-stride, the goalies refusing to concede. The Orange had five shots to Miami's three. The second half saw even more back-and-forth play, with the Canes breaking through with a header by redshirt-senior midfielder, and captain, Erin McGovern off of a corner kick in the 58th minute. Following the score, Syracuse picked up the pace, but the paced seemed too frantic to generate any offensive production as there were many passes that were intercepted by Miami. Finally, in the 85th minute, senior midfielder Jackie Firenze tied it all up when she collected a pass from sophomore midfielder Eva Gordon and followed through. The goal sent the game into overtime.
Neither side could get anything going in the first overtime, so onto second overtime the game would go. The Orange took no time to adjust and steal the ball from Miami. Once the ball reached junior forward Stephanie Skilton, she promptly passed it though the Canes' defense to sophomore forward Alex Lamontagne who fired the ball from the right just out of the reach of Perez for the game-winner.
Key Players
- Alex Lamontagne: 3 shots, 2 shots on-goal, 1 goal
- Jackie Firenze: 3 shots, 2 shots on-goal, 1 goal
- Catalina Perez: 6 saves, 2 goals allowed
- Erin McGovern: 3 shots, 2 shots on-goal, 1 goal
Up Next
Syracuse takes on Wake Forest (4-11-2, 1-7-0 ACC) at SU Soccer Stadium this Sunday at 1:00 pm EST, vying for their third-straight win.
G'Orange!