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It took Syracuse just 27 seconds to earn its first corner, with SJ Quigley toeing the baseline’s left side and releasing her insert pass into the top of the circle. It took Syracuse eight seconds more to score, with Eefke van den Nieuwenhof’s shot hitting Duke goalie Piper Hampsch, who was on the ground. It took Quigley curling off the baseline, taking nine steps to halt in front of the cage for the rebound and tapping the ball in to give the Orange a lead they would keep building on.

In the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament’s quarterfinal game on Thursday, Syracuse (13-4, 4-2 ACC) scored four goals — including Quigley’s — off corners, a scoring opportunity it has had low efficiency on nearly all season. In a 5-1 victory against Duke (6-11, 0-6 ACC), the Orange, the tournament’s No. 2 seed, advanced into Friday’s semifinals.

Before SU’s final regular-season game against Cornell — when it scored three goals off corners — Syracuse shot a low clip off corners, especially against high-ranked opponents such as Louisville. When it defeated Duke 7-2 on Oct. 16, Syracuse scored just twice on seven corner chances. Using different variations, instead of just setting up van den Nieuwenhof — the Orange’s normal corner scorer — SU was able to score four of its five goals on Thursday off the scoring opportunity.

“We always (try to) change it up,” head coach Ange Bradley said. “I think we managed the game.”

Nearly eight minutes after Quigley’s rebound goal in the first quarter’s starting seconds, the senior defender was back at the baseline teeing the ball for Syracuse’s second corner of the game. Quigley sent the ball into the top of the circle toward a crouched Claire Cooke, who stopped the ball with her stick for van den Nieuwenhof to swipe at it. Van den Nieuwenhof fired, and with the ball rolling on the ground, Willemijn Boogert scored, shoving out her stick to redirect it into the top of the cage.

SU tacked on its third goal — and its only non-corner-assisted goal of the game — later in the first quarter. When Charlotte de Vries approached Duke’s side on the 25-yard line, the junior midfielder passed to Hailey Bitters, who collected the ball and sent a ground shot into the right side of the cage, increasing the lead to 3-0.

Duke began to press more aggressively into the second period and was able to capitalize on one goal from Hannah Miller after she beat Laura Graziosi and hit a reverse chip into the goal. Two minutes later, van den Nieuwenhof reextended the lead by three off another corner when Quigley passed directly to her on the shooting circle’s line at 15 yards. With key scorer Pleun Lammers out until after the ACC Tournament, van den Nieuwenhof stepped up and scored two goals on Thursday to match Lammers’ season goal count of eight.

“She quarterbacks our field, our tempo play,” Bradley said. “I’m just so happy for her that she’s been able to break through and execute.”

Van den Nieuwenhof scored her second goal in the third period’s final seconds off another corner, another Cooke setup and another Quigley insert. Syracuse’s fifth and final corner came in the fourth period when van den Nieuwenhof rifled an insert pass from Marie Sommer. The shot drifted wide, and Hampsch didn’t even try to grab the ball. But with two minutes left and a four-goal lead, it was the Orange’s only missed corner attempt of the game.

“We’ve been working on it all season, and today, everything, just all the puzzle pieces (came) together,” van den Nieuwenhof said. “We were able to finish.”

Published on November 4, 2021 at 9:47 pm

Contact Christopher: cscargla@syr.edu | @chrisscargs