ITHACA — Charlotte de Vries jogged to the Syracuse sideline at halftime and placed her hands on her head. The freshman, who had scored four goals in her first three collegiate games, was struggling for the first time in Orange.

Every time she tried to fire her patented reverse hit, two Cornell defenders would be standing right around her, poking the ball away and ending the opportunity.

The freshman had been unconfined through her first three games. Her goals stifled defenses, providing SU the lift it needed in comeback wins against Vermont and Lafayette. So, Cornell opted for a different tactic than what SU’s previous opponents had done. The Big Red chose to double-team the Pennsylvania native, challenging SU’s other forwards to beat them instead. Even though she tallied the Orange’s only goal, de Vries ended the game with seven shots and only one on goal as Syracuse (3-1) lost to Cornell (1-0), 2-1.

“I think that we weren’t moving the ball well. We tried to force a lot,” Bradley said. “They really jammed the central zones.”

Against Vermont, in her first game for SU, de Vries scored the game-tying goal with seven minutes left in regulation before scoring the game-winner in overtime. Two days later against UMass Lowell, de Vries rifled home the game’s only goal off a breakaway in the fourth quarter.

Then, when facing a two-goal deficit versus Lafayette, she found an opening behind the goalkeeper on a penalty corner, sparking the two goal comeback.

But today, the Big Red recognized that de Vries had scored four of the Orange’s eight goals on the season and game-planned around her. Every time she touched the ball, she was forced to pass the ball or try and split two defenders.

When she did attempt to keep it and zigzag through the defense, Cornell dispossessed her and sent the ball back down the field.

“Our offense doesn’t revolve around one person. We have to do a better job of that,” Bradley said. “That’s something we’re working on.”

Following Cornell’s two goals, first-year Cornell head coach Andy Smith continued to push his forwards farther back, making SU take the game to the hosts. de Vries, now with less open space to work with, struggled to even find room to fire off shots. Between the second and third quarters, she only tallied one shot.

It wasn’t until the fourth quarter that de Vries found an opening. Following a shot by sophomore SJ Quigley off a penalty corner, the ball bounced right to de Vries. Without hesitating, she backhanded a shot between Cornell goalkeeper Maddie Henry’s legs, bringing the score within one.

She threw her arms in the air and rejoiced with her teammates as Bradley clapped on the sideline.

The celebration didn’t last. The last ten minutes saw multiple Orange chances fly by Henry and out of bounds. Three penalty corners in the final three minutes were saved or missed.

When the clock struck zero, de Vries walked slowly to the now lifeless Syracuse bench. For her and the other freshmen, it’s the first sign of hardship, a sign that others need to step up around de Vries for SU to succeed in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

“It happened early in the season, which can serve as a turning point,” senior Claire Webb, who missed the game with a hand injury, said.

Published on September 7, 2019 at 3:51 pm

Contact Adam: adhillma@syr.edu | @_adamhillman