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Late in the first half, SU’s Moo Galbus found space and dribbled down the left side of the 18-yard box with a St. Bonaventure defender in hot pursuit.

Galbus sent a cross toward the goal, where freshman Vita Naihin awaited. Naihin slid in front of the net and tipped the ball just out of the reach of Bonnies’ goalkeeper Chiara Gottinger for her first college goal.

The shot netted Syracuse (6-1-1, 0-0-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) its second score of the game, as it defeated St. Bonaventure (1-5-1, 0-0-0 Atlantic 10) 3-0 Sunday afternoon. The Orange dominated the game offensively, utilizing crosses, set pieces and corner kicks to force tough shots on the Bonnies. SU outshot St. Bonaventure 18-4 throughout the contest.

“We knew we were going to have to beat them on the outside,” SU head coach Nicky Thrasher Adams said regarding SU’s use of crosses. “We talked about getting numbers in the box. That’s three goals coming from crosses, last game against Binghamton and then two today.”

The Orange received a corner kick in the game’s opening minutes, which Kate Murphy took. However, it was punched away by Gottinger, and Ava Uribe’s ensuing shot went straight to the goalkeeper. A few minutes later, the Bonnies were similarly contained off a corner as SU forward Erin Flurey knocked the ball away.

For the next 15 minutes, the ball remained mostly in the Orange’s control despite the score remaining 0-0. During this time, SU was awarded its second corner. This time, Murphy’s shot sailed over the net.

Nearly 10 minutes later, Murphy broke through for Syracuse. Following a foul on the Bonnies, the Orange implemented a set piece that they’d been working on in practice, according to Adams. Uribe took the free kick to the left of the 18-yard box and slotted a pass right to Murphy, who was waiting in front of the goal. Murphy rocketed a shot into the right corner of the net, making it 1-0 SU.

“(Uribe and I) just kind of made eye contact and she passed it and I was like, this has got to be a shot and this has got to be a goal, or else I’m going to get in trouble,” Murphy said postgame.

Nine minutes later, Syracuse doubled its lead via Naihin’s sliding score. Soon after, SU tallied yet another shot, though it didn’t lead to a goal. The half ended seven minutes later, with one more shot attempt from Uribe. But the redshirt sophomore’s try rolled right to Gottinger, who gobbled the ball up easily.

Syracuse immediately received four straight corners to start the second half but couldn’t capitalize. On the second attempt, Liesel Odden drilled a ball to the low left corner of the goal, which was saved by Gottinger.

The next two corners saw Uribe receive the ball and produce two shots. The first was easily brought in by Gottinger, while the second was blocked by the Bonnies after Uribe received the ball in heavy traffic. Those were the last of seven corner kicks that the Orange received in the contest, five more than the Bonnies.

Shortly after that sequence, the Orange added to their lead, as Ashley Rauch, deep in the Bonnies’ territory, passed the ball forward to Flurey. Gottinger moved forward to try and block her shot. She stopped the ball and Flurey’s momentum, but she knocked the ball right back to Flurey. It then ricocheted back off of Flurey and into the open net, giving SU a 3-0 lead.

The Orange then received a golden opportunity when Gottinger left the net wide open trying to cut down Galbus in front of the net. Mackenzie Dupre floated a shot toward the net, but two Bonnies defenders raced in front of the goal to knock the ball away.

The game ended just five minutes after this, as Galbus had her legs cut out from under her and was injured on the play. Both teams mutually agreed to end the contest after Galbus was driven away in an ambulance.

Heading into Syracuse’s first conference match on Thursday against SMU, Adams is pleased with how her team concluded nonconference play.

“I really liked how much we were connecting this game,” Adams said. “We were really looking for opportunities in that gold zone and three goals on the day, you take it and run.”

Published on September 8, 2024 at 9:09 pm

Contact Noah: njnussba@syr.edu | @ Noahnuss99