Syracuse women’s soccer falls 5-3 to Cavaliers on senior day

The Orange showed signs of hope throughout their 5-3 loss on Sunday but were unable to overcome the early scoring deficit as a result of strong offensive pressure put by the Virginia Cavaliers.

The visitors wasted no time in today’s matchup, scoring two goals in the first 11 minutes of the contest. Virginia took the opening kickoff and immediately applied pressure to the Orange, heightening the importance of each Syracuse opportunity. The Cavaliers controlled the pace of the game throughout and dominated the time of possession disparity.

Junior forward Alexa Spaanstra started the scoring for the Cavaliers with an early goal, assisted by fellow junior forward Rebecca Jarrett. Virginia continued to dictate the control of the game when, just two minutes later, the Cavaliers added an insurance goal to their lead as striker Lia Godfrey and Anna Sumpter connected out in front for the ensuing tally.

The Orange, inspired by the pressure being put on them by the Cavaliers, began to fight back a short time after. In the 12^th minute, Syracuse defender Jenna Tivnan picked up her second goal of the season, bringing the Orange back into the game. Senior Shannon Aviza grabbed her first goal of the season in the back-and-forth battle and gave Syracuse their first multi-goal half of the season. Syracuse freshman defender Lindsey Brick had a solid game, logging assists on two of the three Orange goals.

Sneaking in a goal in between Syracuse’s first tallies of the game, the Cavaliers made it 3-1 in the 32^nd minute when Diana Ordonez popped one past Orange goaltender Lysianne Proulx, assisted by Godfrey. Today’s game marked Proulx’s sixth contest this season where she made at least nine saves. Syracuse closed in on Virginia with their 2-1 run and went into the locker room at the end of the first half down only 3-2.

The Orange struggled to maintain the energy and momentum that they closed the first half with, allowing Virginia two back-to-back goals in the first 15 minutes. Three familiar Cavalier names popped up again as forward Ordonez assisted on Jarrett’s third goal of the season. The fourth Virginia goal was scored by Godfrey in the 61^st minute, giving the Cavaliers a three-goal lead, and was assisted by Ordonez for the second time in the second half.

Syracuse continued to play hard through the end of the game though, scoring their third goal with just 10 seconds remaining in regulation. Senior midfielder Kate Hostage capitalized on a penalty kick, adding a sixth goal to her career and brought the Orange to a 5-3 final. The Orange finished the season with just one win in eight contests but will now shift their focus to reloading and recuperating before next fall.