Indiana Falls To No. 1 Syracuse 3-1

Sunday, October 11

Bloomington, Ind.

12:00 PM

Indiana University

(6-7)

Syracuse

(13-0)

Syracuse

Indiana

10/11/2015 3:17:00 PM | Field Hockey

Box Score

By: Sam Beishuizen, IUHoosiers.com | @Sam_Beishuizen

By: Sam Beishuizen | Twitter
IUHoosiers.com

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Indiana head coach Amanda Janney kept her team out on the field during postgame a little longer than usual Sunday.

She told her team not to be happy about a 3-1 loss to No. 1 Syracuse (13-0), but then she reminded them not to be too upset with themselves either. Against the top team in the country, Janney's team held their own.

"The team just fought really hard today and played intense and with a level of urgency that we need every game," Janney said. "I think playing such a talented team like that, our team did a great job to match the level of speed and really compete, and that's what we asked of them."

Syracuse outshot Indiana 18-1 in the first half, jumping out to a 2-0 lead by halftime.

Syracuse junior forward Liz Sack drew first blood in the fourth minute, scoring on an unassisted run and shot to the inside lower-right corner of the goal.

The Orange added a second goal with three minutes remaining in the half when senior midfielder Alma Fenne fired off a shot with Indiana freshman goalie Noelle Rother's vision obstructed by a crowd in front of her. By the time Rother saw the hard-hit shot, it was too late for her to do anything to make the stop.

Despite allowing two goals, Rother kept Indiana (6-7) in the game in the first half with eight of her 11 saves on the day. It was a continuation of a streak of good play out of the German keeper, who's been called on time and time again this season to anchor the last line of defense.

"There really are no words. She is incredible," senior defender Sydney Supica said of Rother. "She is incredible. As a freshman? I really have no words. It's awesome that she's been able to come in and block all those shots and be a standout in the Big Ten."

Supica had three defensive stops to her own credit, but Syracuse's own defensive prowess gave the Indiana offense trouble throughout the match.

When IU's forwards managed to move the ball into the final third, Syracuse repeatedly crashed the ball and worked to disposes the Hoosier making an effort at the goal.

Indiana's lone score came on a deflection by sophomore midfielder Maddie Latino in front of the net off a penalty corner in the 44^th minute. The goal seemed to give Indiana momentum and was quickly followed by a sequence of goal-scoring opportunities, but no Hoosiers were able to finish around the cage to complete a comeback.

The Orange went on to add an insurance goal in the 58^th minute to finalize the 3-1 victory.

"You could see on the look of Syracuse's faces and the way we played that they were getting frustrated because it turned into our game," Latino said. "I think we need to do a little bit better of just taking a shot as soon as we get into the circle instead of just playing with it and looking for the perfect shot."

Though Janney is never truly happy pleased in a losing effort, she said she was impressed with the way Indiana played the undefeated Orange. Entering the game, Syracuse was averaging 4.16 goals per game and gave up just .83 goals per contest.

Syracuse is the type of team Indiana is working to become. On pace to qualify for the Big Ten Tournament and with NCAA Tournament aspirations, the Hoosiers proved at times to be able to keep up with a top team in the country like Syracuse.

The next phase is being able to play a complete game to beat them.

"We're not happy with the result of course, but I thought the intensity and the right were really good," Janney said. "We grew a lot today."