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Defender Bo van Kempen has scored eight goals through her first nine games. The graduate student is new to Syracuse, previously playing at Liemers College. But she’s quickly found her footing.

In No. 15 Syracuse’s (7-3, 2-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) 2-1 win over No. 16 Louisville (5-6, 1-2 ACC), van Kempen starred, scoring SU’s only two goals to lead it to victory.

To open conference play, Syracuse faced off against three conference opponents. Then-No. 2 North Carolina defeated the Orange 5-0 before SU bounced back with a 1-0 shutout victory over Wake Forest. The Orange then finished their road trip, falling to then-No. 9 Duke 1-0 in a penalty shootout.

In its game versus Louisville, Syracuse was determined to return to a .500 record in ACC play, and van Kempen led the charge. With 25.6 seconds remaining in the first quarter, Berber Bakermans, Lieke Leeggangers and Willemijn Boogert all crowded the inside of the shooting circle. While the three couldn’t put the ball in the net, they forced a penalty corner, leading van Kempen to jog down the field to take her position.

Van Kempen lined up at the top of the corner and received a light tap from Bakermans. Following a clean pass, van Kempen slotted the shot right past Louisville’s Brandelynn Heinbaugh to tie the match at one apiece.

“It’s just practice, to be honest. We spend a lot of time at (penalty corners) during practice,” van Kempen said postgame. “Insertion is good, the trap is good, the rhythm is there, and I can score the goals.”

The early score marked van Kempen’s team-high seventh goal of the season. On 32 shots on the year, her .656 shot-on-goal percentage is what makes her so effective. After van Kempen, Vivian Rowan is next on SU’s squad with three goals.

Syracuse wasn’t done, though. Throughout the second quarter and beginning of the third, the Orange found even more extensive offensive pressure. Aiden Drabick had plenty of fast breaks, sprinting across the field at a constant rate. Drabick’s force led to additional goal-scoring or penalty corner opportunities for the Orange.

Alongside Drabick, Nina van Asselen had a steal early in the game, which gave SU one of its best looks all day. Rowan received the fast break pass from van Asselen but was unable to score.

Besides SU’s front field, its backline was limiting Louisville’s chances. The Orange allowed just four shots on the day, three of which came in the same sequence. And even with van Kempen leading Syracuse’s goal-scoring charge, she really is known for her lockdown defense.

“Our set pieces are huge. (Van Kempen) has the opportunity to set up on that circle edge,” SU head coach Lynn Farquhar said postgame. “She can play both circle edges, and we would like to keep it that way.”

Into the second half, Syracuse and Louisville stayed tied at 1-1. After van Kempen’s stops on defense, Syracuse moved the ball in transition, setting up more opportunities to take the lead. Momentum from Leeggangers, Pati Strunk and Sarah Smalley kept Louisville’s defense on its toes.

And finally, when Hattie Madden forced a stick obstruction from a Louisville defender, SU was exactly where it wanted to be, once again.

Van Kempen had another opportunity to put Syracuse ahead with just four minutes remaining in the third quarter. While a whole quarter would be a lot of time to stop Louisville’s attack, it seemed as though SU’s defense would be able to keep up.

Leeggangers stretched at the end line, placing one foot out of bounds. The midfielder gave Bakermans a perfect assist, which she trapped with ease. As van Kempen wound up to take her shot, it seemed the pressure had fueled her to put the game away at that moment.

“She actually does better with pressure. So we’re going to keep the pressure on her to finish,” Farquhar said.

With ease, van Kempen put the ball in the back of the net to seal SU’s victory.

“It feels really good. They were ranked one spot underneath us,” van Kempen said. “There was a little bit of pressure on this game, but I think we played really well.”

Published on October 4, 2024 at 8:10 pm

Contact: jordankimball28@gmail.com | @JordanKimball_