Asa Goldstock banged her stick on the two goalposts, alternating twice before spinning the stick and stationing herself in front of the goal. It was late in the second half of Syracuse’s April 3 game against Virginia Tech, and the Hokies’ Mary Claire Byrne had just earned a free-position shot.

The whistle blew and Byrne quickly shuffled forward before the attack was met by a pair of SU defenders. A shot headed straight for the upper-left corner of the goal before Goldstock sprung up and picked it off, her sixth save of the game.

The No. 5 Orange (14-3, 5-2 Atlantic Coast) went on to defeat Virginia Tech, 14-13, marking their fifth victory of the year by one goal. Syracuse’s defense, which allowed seven free-position goals to the Hokies in a 15-14, double-overtime loss last season, held Virginia Tech to just two scores on seven free position opportunities.

Opponents are converting on just under 38% of their free-position chances against SU’s defense, the second-lowest mark the Orange have allowed in program history. The efficient clip has saved SU, which has faced an average of 5.8 free position attempts per game, from allowing teams to take advantage.

“We watch a lot of film, certainly put it on the scouting report,” SU head coach Gary Gait said. “Some players tend to have the outside rip, some want to carry it in every time.”

If a player likes to shoot from the outside instead of running in, like Syracuse’s leading scorer Emily Hawryschuk (57 goals, 21 from the free-position) tends to do, the Orange will rush to force a deflection or errant shot. If the player is like Byrne and prefers to take a few steps toward the goal before releasing its shot, Syracuse’s game plan is to get as many bodies possible to congest shooting lanes.

Against Florida on March 13, another game the Orange won by just one score, the Gators earned 14 free-position shots, including eight in the second half. SU stopped nine of them, the most they have prevented in a game this season.

The Orange also keep track of players’ dominant hands in relation to where the shot is on the eight-meter arc. If a player is a lefty and they’re on one of the left hash marks, they’ll likely shoot the ball. If they’re on an opposite hash, they’re more prone to pass, which is something Syracuse has to be aware of at all times.

“Most players maybe won’t take that shot they’re not sure of,” SU midfielder Sam Swart said. “We’re pretty smart about that on our team.”

One of the reasons SU is so adept at both scoring off free-position opportunities as well as defending them is because it practices eight-meter shots every day during practice. While other aspects of the game — like clears and rides — aren’t practiced frequently due to their time constraints, free-position shots are routine.

During games, Goldstock usually takes on the responsibility of moving around the defenders in front of her. If Goldstock doesn’t like the defense, she’ll move her teammates around accordingly. Nearly every free-position shot leads to attack and defenders jockeying for position.

“Asa will help us rearrange if we need based on the circumstance,” SU defender Sarah Cooper said. “If they’re putting players behind we know we need to get someone behind, and Asa’s the one telling us.”

Syracuse hasn’t found a way to reduce its penalty numbers. But so far this season, its recipe to stop free-position tries, and limit the damage, has been successful.

“Sometimes we do a great job then it comes down to Asa making some saves at the end,” Gait said. “We wanna get solid and get some stops, so we work at it.”

Published on April 17, 2019 at 10:06 pm

Contact Eric: erblack@syr.edu | @esblack34