Spring Break
The Daily OrangeDefenses dominate in Orange's first confrence game
By Jen McCaffrey
Posted: 9/22/08, 12:26 AM EST Section: Sports
Each shot either barely tipped over the top of the net or was swatted away in a diving stop. After 90 minutes of regulation and two 10-minute overtime sessions, the Orange (3-3-2) tied St. John's, 0-0, Friday night at the Syracuse Soccer Stadium.
The two teams matched each other possession-for-possession through regulation. St. John's (4-1-3) best scoring chance in the first half was barely saved by Orange goalkeeper Eliza Bennett-Hattan, who used her fingertips to push the ball over the top of the net. She recorded three more saves in the second half, her last coming with less than two minutes left in regulation as she dove to her right and pushed the ball out of bounds.
The back-and-forth game challenged the defenses on both teams. Syracuse was able to generate more offense than St. John's, out-shooting the visitors 16-11. But the Red Storm - who leads the conference in most defensive categories - kept SU scoreless.
Syracuse played a very aggressive, vocal game surrounding and pushing past Red Storm defenders to get inside while exposing St. John's lack of speed up the middle.
Forwards Crystal Rinaldi and Amanda Arcuri continued the attack combining for four shots on goal. Megan Bellingham came back strong in the second with Syracuse's first shot on goal of the half and remained aggressive until the last shot in double overtime.
"We knew going into the second half we needed to do a better job of keeping the ball," Bellingham said. "Obviously when you keep the ball you're going to create more chances. I thought we did a great job at stepping up our intensity."
But both goalies rose to the occasion to keep the game scoreless.
SU's Bennett-Hattan recorded her third shutout of the season and 15th of her career, moving her into sole possession of first place on SU women's soccer career shutouts list. She also recorded her 200th save moving her into sole possession of second place on the Syracuse women's soccer career saves list.
The two teams matched each other possession-for-possession through regulation. St. John's (4-1-3) best scoring chance in the first half was barely saved by Orange goalkeeper Eliza Bennett-Hattan, who used her fingertips to push the ball over the top of the net. She recorded three more saves in the second half, her last coming with less than two minutes left in regulation as she dove to her right and pushed the ball out of bounds.
The back-and-forth game challenged the defenses on both teams. Syracuse was able to generate more offense than St. John's, out-shooting the visitors 16-11. But the Red Storm - who leads the conference in most defensive categories - kept SU scoreless.
Syracuse played a very aggressive, vocal game surrounding and pushing past Red Storm defenders to get inside while exposing St. John's lack of speed up the middle.
Forwards Crystal Rinaldi and Amanda Arcuri continued the attack combining for four shots on goal. Megan Bellingham came back strong in the second with Syracuse's first shot on goal of the half and remained aggressive until the last shot in double overtime.
"We knew going into the second half we needed to do a better job of keeping the ball," Bellingham said. "Obviously when you keep the ball you're going to create more chances. I thought we did a great job at stepping up our intensity."
But both goalies rose to the occasion to keep the game scoreless.
SU's Bennett-Hattan recorded her third shutout of the season and 15th of her career, moving her into sole possession of first place on SU women's soccer career shutouts list. She also recorded her 200th save moving her into sole possession of second place on the Syracuse women's soccer career saves list.
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