The minutes were starting to add up on SU’s captain Kate Hostage. The Orange’s leading scorer had played 98 minutes in a 2-1 double-overtime loss to Kent State three days before lacing up against Duke.

Sixty minutes into the game, a pain shot up Hostage’s left leg through her ankle. She laid in front of the SU bench and eventually hopped off the field, not putting any pressure on her left leg. Hostage remains day-to-day with an ankle injury, SU head coach Phil Wheddon said. He’s optimistic she can return this week, but she hasn’t practiced since suffering the injury.

With Hostage out of the lineup, SU (3-8, 0-2 Atlantic Coast) has failed to put the ball in the net. The Orange has lost the previous two games without her, 3-0 to Boston College and 1-0 to Louisville. They’ve attempted 14 shots in 210 minutes played since Hostage limped off, which led to no goals. Hostage has four of the Orange’s six goals this season.

“Obviously, it’s a huge loss offensively because, as the stats show, when she’s on the field we score goals,” junior Taylor Bennett said. “It just means that there’s more opportunity for everyone else to step up and take that role. We’re really looking for someone to shine in that role.”

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To replace Hostage’s playmaking, Wheddon said the production must come from multiple contributors and by being “aggressive in going forward” while using its numbers to gain an advantage.

In its last-second 1-0 loss to Louisville, SU tried putting several different players, including center midfielder Georgia Allen, at striker. Wheddon said Allen can replicate Hostage’s ability to “hold up” the ball in the attacking third and wait for more SU players to join the rush.

“We have a very interchangeable squad, and that’s one of the positives,” Allen said. “We have people that can fill in different roles. So obviously, losing Kate Hostage was a big thing, but we still have our way of playing as a team and that won’t change. We have speed up front, so whoever we put up there, we’re not going to change the way we play.”

As opposed to possessing in the midfield and playing to the defenders, Allen said the Orange have been more aggressive in getting the ball into the opponent’s third. In the midfield, Allen has tapped more passes over the top of defenders to push the ball down the field.

“We want to score goals, and the only way to do that is to get the ball near the goal,” Allen said.

Stephanie deLaforcade has also provided a spark. In the seventh minute of SU’s 3-0 loss to BC, deLaforcade fired a shot off a pass from 20 feet out toward the top left corner of the net, but it was snagged by Alexis Bryant, BC’s keeper. deLaforcade recorded two shots against the Eagles and started against Louisville.

Midfielder Laurel Ness has also seen more playing time at forward since Hostage’s injury. In the 67th minute against Boston College, Ness launched the Orange’s first shot of the second half over the crossbar. She registered two shots against BC and one against Louisville.

Allen, Bennett and Kate Donovan have also missed time at other points in the season. The injuries SU suffers, Wheddon said, are not due to overuse or rigorous training. The injuries have forced SU to test its depth, and it has failed to produce.

“We’re getting contact injuries in games,” Wheddon said, “and it’s costing us at the moment.”

Published on September 26, 2018 at 9:53 pm

Contact Danny: dremerma@syr.edu | @DannyEmerman