'Cuse Extinguishes Flames in Overtime

Friday, November 10

Durham, N.C.

2:30 p.m.

Syracuse University

(11-7)

Liberty

(17-3)

Syracuse

LIBERTY

11/10/2023 4:45:00 PM | Field Hockey

Box Score Photo Gallery

DURHAM, N.C. -- Down a goal early in the fourth quarter, No. 11 Syracuse University field hockey rallied past No. 7 Liberty to reach the NCAA Tournament Quarterfinals for a third-straight season. Charlotte de Vries scored the game-winning goal in overtime to lift the Orange 2-1 past the Flames Friday afternoon at Williams Field at Jack Katz Stadium.

Syracuse (11-7) got the equalizer on a back-door tap in from Lieke Leeggangers in the 58th minute on a de Vries assist before the latter redirected a Pieke van de Pas overtime corner shot past the Liberty keeper for the win. Abby Neitch made one save for Syracuse while Leeggangers provided a clutch defensive save late in the second quarter.

Liberty (17-3) broke open a defensive battle in the 47th minute on a corner with Jodie Conolly striking on a double assist from Reagan Underwood and Bethany Dykema.

How it Happened

Two of the top offenses in the country could not find the back of the net in the first 45 minutes of the game.
Liberty took the lone shot in the first quarter, limiting the Orange to zero attempts. On the other side of the field, Syracuse withstood an early Liberty penalty corner to keep it scoreless through 15 minutes.
In the second frame, Syracuse put the offensive pressure on the Flames' backline, earning two penalty corners and three shots.
But it was a defensive save from Leeggangers in the 28th minute that kept things scoreless through the first half as a corner shot initially got past the Orange flyers.
Each team took one shot in the third quarter and neither side scored as the second-ever meeting between Syracuse and Liberty entered the fourth quarter deadlocked 0-0.
In the 47th minute, Liberty broke through on its third penalty corner of the game with Conolly scoring on feeds from Underwood and Dykema.
Syracuse's potent offense went to work, out-shooting the Flames 8-2 in the fourth quarter with a 5-2 corner advantage.
On one of those corner, Syracuse got a rip from de Vries that was tipped on the back post from Leeggangers to tie the game 1-1 in the 58th minute.
In overtime, Syracuse started with possession and did not allow Liberty past midfield. Using their athleticism, the Orange picked up the game-winning penalty corner in the 63rd minute as Willemijn Boogert zipped in a pass up top to van de Pas, who took a big shot. Crouched low behind the Liberty defense, de Vries tipped the game-winning goal over the out-stretched arms of Azul Iritxity Irigoyen.

Behind the Numbers

Syracuse boasts the longest active NCAA Tournament Quarterfinal appearance streak in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), reaching the next round for a third-straight season.
Neitch made one save in her 62 minutes of work while Leeggangers notched not only her first goal of the 2023 campaign, but her first defensive save of the season as well.
Syracuse controlled the offense, particularly in the second half, as the Orange pounded 14 shots in the game, including eight on goal. Liberty had just six total attempts with three on goal.
Orange head coach Lynn Farquhar earned her first NCAA Tournament win at the helm of the Syracuse program, a fitting victory as the last team she faced as the head coach at Saint Joseph's was Liberty in the first round of the 2021 NCAA Tournament.
The Cardiac 'Cuse played in their seventh one-goal game of the season and the third-straight single-goal outing. The Orange improved to 2-3 in overtime games this season while getting their fourth come-from-behind win of the year. It was the first Syracuse win this year when trailing at halftime.
Syracuse is 9-1 this season when holding opponents to just one goal.
De Vries picked up three points in the win with her game-tying assist and game-winning assist. It was her 49th career goal while moving her career point total to 123, third-most in program history.

Up Next for Syracuse

No. 11 Syracuse rematches with No. 3 Duke on Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. right back at Williams Field at Jack Katz Stadium. ESPN+ will have Sunday's contest.
The Orange and Blue Devils met once during the regular season, a 4-0 win for the Blue Devils at Williams Field at Jack Katz Stadium.