Telly Vunipola received a through ball from Zoe Van de Cloot, streaked down the wing and crossed the ball into the box. It deflected off a Binghamton player and found freshman midfielder Pauline Machtens, who buried the ball from point-blank range into the bottom right corner of the goal.
“I was watching Telly and she was running, and I screamed at her, ‘Play the ball in!’ and the ball luckily came to me,” Machtens said.
Machtens’ first-half goal was all SU needed to snap Binghamton’s (2-2-1, 0-0 America East Conference) three-game winning streak and give Syracuse (3-1, 0-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) a 1-0 win on Thursday. The Orange set a season high with 10 shots on target, while not allowing any from the Bearcats. For the fourth straight game, Syracuse had at least 15 shots, outshooting its opponents this year 74-21.
Syracuse controlled the game in all facets, especially early on. In the seventh minute, Meghan Root forced Binghamton goalkeeper Haylee Poltorak into a diving save in the bottom left corner of the goal. On the ensuing corner, Poltorak made another save on a Jenna Tivnan header near the crossbar.
Two minutes later, Syracuse earned a shooting opportunity again. Koby Commandant serviced Root, who cleanly passed the ball to Hannah Pilley. Pilley’s attempt missed to the right of the post.
Poltorak made another impressive save in the 24th minute, as Vunipola’s attempt to the bottom left was stopped. But just a minute later, Machtens scored to give the Orange a lead they would never relinquish.
Six different Orange players registered a shot on target, another season high. Head coach Nicky Adams said she was pleased with how many players were involved in the Orange attack.
Vunipola made run after run down the sideline, resulting in several chances for herself and her teammates. In the 52nd minute, the Louisiana transfer sprinted across the sideline off a pass from Commandant, beat her defender to the ball and sliced a shot toward the bottom right. Poltorak still made the save.
Of Vunipola’s five shots, four were on target or required saves from Poltorak. Vunipola has been involved in four of the team’s seven goals this season.
Despite an inexperienced midfield and previous difficulties in transition defense (especially against Niagara), Syracuse allowed hardly any possession to Binghamton, especially in its defensive third.
“We knew our midfield play was going to be crucial this game,” Adams said. “We noticed a lot on film that Binghamton liked to play through the midfield. We worked hard this week on our midfield defending and being able to force them into the central part of the field.”
Although Binghamton secured more possession in the second half, Syracuse controlled the midfield for the entire contest. The Orange retained the ball for most of the match, but when they lost it, they quickly pressed the Bearcats in the midfield to regain possession.
Because of its lack of possession, Binghamton did not register a corner kick until the 40th minute or a shot until the 53rd minute. Forward Maya Anand, who won America East Player of the Week last week after scoring twice against Bryant, didn’t record a single shot. Lysianne Proulx did not have to record a single save — something she’s never done while playing all 90 minutes.
Despite tallying just a single goal, Adams was content with her team’s improvement, she said. Syracuse pressured the ball heavily in the midfield, serviced the ball to its forwards well and peppered shot after shot to Binghamton’s goal.
“We keep working and working on this transition attack that we really like,” Adams said. “We’re getting better every game.”
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