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Syracuse (12-4, 4-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) remained at No. 12 in the Week 8 National Field Hockey Coaches Association Poll, which was released Tuesday. It’s the third consecutive week that SU has held the No. 12 spot in the poll. The Orange went undefeated last week, claiming a 7-2 win over Bucknell and a 3-1 win over then-No. 8 UConn.
On Thursday against Bucknell, Syracuse created chances early but didn’t open the scoring until the second quarter. Just two minutes into the second period, Vivian Rowan dribbled into the arc and won SU its first penalty corner of the game. Willemijn Boogert inserted the pass to Bo van Kempen, who gave the Orange the lead with her 13th goal of the year. Boogert, van Kempen and Lana Hamilton each finished with two goals on the day, and Rowan closed out the scoring in the fourth quarter to seal SU’s dominant victory.
On Sunday against UConn, SU had an uneventful first half. The Orange blanked the Huskies but failed to convert on their own scoring chances. Despite threatening UConn for most of the third quarter, Syracuse ended up falling behind. The Huskies drew a penalty corner with Milaw Clause deflecting a shot past Louise Pert to go up 1-0. But in the fourth, Lieke Leeggangers equalized the match, and van Kempen scored a penalty stroke soon after to secure a 2-1 lead. After UConn emptied its net to add an extra attacker, Aiden Drabick doubled Syracuse’s lead, putting the game out of reach of the Huskies.
Despite earning their first top-10 win of the season, the Orange couldn’t break into the top 10 this week. Syracuse gained 33 points in the poll, finishing with 498 poll points in Week 8. For the third consecutive week, SU reached a new season-best in poll points, surpassing its previous high of 465 set in Week 7.
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