Unfittingly, the shot came at a time in which the Syracuse field hockey team was not itself.

The shot occurred thanks to American University’s ever-persistent insurgency against SU’s typically tough defense, which was caught off guard. And the shot occurred when it mattered the most.

This shot propelled American past SU, 2-1, in overtime at Coyne Field on Sunday, as the No. 8 Eagles extended their winning streak to 13. The Orange has suffered a three-game slide with recent defeats to American, Connecticut and Dartmouth.

After American drew a penalty corner within the overtime’s opening minute, freshman Denise Infante barely nipped the ball on the pass-in. Camila Infante, Denise’s sister and teammate, recovered the ball and shot it. But SU goalie Betsy Wagner came out of the cage and dove forward to stop the ball. Denise gained control on the rebound and lobbed the ball over Wagner in the right side of the goal at the 14:09 mark for the win.

‘It was my first overtime and it was a little bit strange,’ Denise said. ‘I made a bad push off and even though it wasn’t good, I made a goal. The push off made the defense get mixed up with the goalie. They didn’t have anyone covering the goal.’

During the play when the shot occurred, Wagner was getting up after making the stop on Camila’s attempt. Earlier in the game, Wagner covered the goal like plastic wrap.

The shot, and the whole play that created it, was an anomaly. Nonetheless, the shot determined the final outcome.

‘We didn’t mark up,’ Wagner said. ‘I didn’t come out early enough. There were a lot of things that happened, but truth is, they beat us.’

Throughout the game, it looked like SU (10-8) would beat American (15-2) and knock off its fourth ranked team this season.

Orange midfielder Leah McKay gave SU a 1-0 lead with 11:11 left in the first half when she fired a long shot just inside the left side of the attack circle. The ball sailed through a surplus of Eagle defensive backs as American didn’t challenge the shot. AU thought it heard whistles in response to speculation that McKay shot outside of the attack circle. After some debate, the referees ruled the score successful.

Though American continually drilled SU with 23 shots and drew 14 penalty corners, the Orange defense rarely caved in. Wagner notched 15 saves by batting and kicking balls and making the necessary dives to block access to the cage.

SU also gave space in the deep back for American to attack. But as soon as the Eagles proceeded, SU moved up and surrounded the AU offense by getting numerous players around the ball.

‘I was proud of my defense for limiting the shots we got and at least making them playable,’ Wagner said. ‘There were a lot of one-on-one situations that we decided to handle. We knew they had a lot of one-on-one skills. We just needed to contain them.’

‘Syracuse made it difficult for us to stay in a pattern without getting impatient,’ American head coach Steve Jennings said. ‘We had to stay calm and play into the game plan, get the ball into the zone and then outside and it’s hard to do. They’re big, strong and have some good defenders, so it was a matter of persevering as opposed to changing and radically trying to force things.’

Eventually, AU’s aggressiveness paid off. Camila Infante deposited a goal off a rebound at 4:29 in the second half to tie the game. Five minutes after Camila’s score, sister Denise drilled the shot – the shot that would keep AU’s winning streak alive and prolong SU’s losing streak.

‘We didn’t fight back as hard as we probably should’ve, but it’s OK,’ Wagner said. ‘The momentum from this game definitely is going to carry us into the game against Colgate and in the Big East (tournament).’

Published on October 24, 2004 at 12:00 pm