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Four days after facing 42 shots against North Carolina, Syracuse goalie Shea Vanderbosch saw 32 attempts come her way in the season-finale versus Virginia.

On a UVA corner kick in the 80th minute, Alexis Theoret’s delivery found Talia Staude in the middle of the 18-yard box. Staude created space for a header, knocking the ball into the right side of the net. Vanderbosch was late to react.

Despite displaying strong defense in the first half, Syracuse (2-14-2, 0-9-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) fell in a 4-0 shutout to Virginia (8-3-6, 3-3-4 ACC) in its final game of the season. While the Orange were outshot by 27, Vanderbosch contributed five saves and finished 2023 with 129 total, coming nine saves shy of Katie Karlander’s school record (138) in 2000.

“What’s scary about this year is Shea has been playing the entire season,” SU head coach Nicky Thrasher Adams said postgame. “I give her a lot of credit for battling and keeping us in a lot of games.”

During the opening half, Syracuse found success by tightening up its backline within the 18. In the 10th minute, Cavaliers’ forward Maggie Cagle dribbled along the left side of the box and was met by SU’s Kylen Grant. The defender got in front of Cagle and booted the ball out of play.

The Cavaliers’ attack started to find itself with less than 15 minutes left in the first half, firing shots at a high volume. But Vanderbosch and Syracuse’s backline held strong, clearing a series of dangers.

In the 35th minute, UVA’s Yuna McCormack received a pass from its backline and drove toward net from the right flank. Syracuse forward Erin Flurey ran behind McCormack and cut in front of her. She left McCormack with no room to strike and broke up the chance within the final third.

“In the first half defensively, we (were) a bit more organized,” Adams said.

But it didn’t take long for Syracuse’s defensive success to wilt away. In the 40th minute, Virginia’s Jill Flammia dribbled into open space inside the 18 and slotted a shot past Vanderbosch into the left corner of the goal.

Throughout the second half, Virginia dominated ball possession and SU’s backline had difficulty keeping up. The Cavaliers fired 19 shots in the last 45 minutes, and got their second goal past the Orange during the 56th minute. Vanderbosch received a yellow card after moving out of the box and knocking down Staude, which awarded UVA a penalty. Cagle took the penalty, sending it by Vanderbosch for a 2-0 lead.

The Orange failed to provide relief on the offensive end all evening. In the 68th minute, Ashley Rauch dribbled past midfield after muscling through two defenders. But once Rauch got near the 18, UVA’s backline caught up to her. She was forced to attempt a useless volley that flew high over the crossbar.

In the 73rd minute, Virginia’s backline made a long pass up high toward Lacey McCormack. SU’s Kate Murphy almost intercepted the pass, but it deflected off her feet and became a loose ball. Meredith McDermott controlled it in space, drilling a shot into the upper left corner of the goal.

Virginia would score on Vanderbosch for the fourth and final time in the 80th minute. The 4-0 blowout was the sixth time in 2023 that Vanderbosch faced 29 or more shots, closing Syracuse’s two-win season in familiar fashion.

“Offensively, we’re having a hard time switching it centrally to be able to have one more switch…We’re struggling holding the ball up top at all,” Adams said. “Virginia did a good job of actually stepping up on other backs into midfield to create another number which made it difficult for us.”

Published on October 27, 2023 at 12:25 am