Sarah Sinck often doesn’t remember most of her saves. In the moment, her mind goes blank.

“Sometimes after games,” Sinck said, “people will go, ‘Oh, great save,’ and I’m like ‘What are you talking about?’”

One moment Syracuse’s goalie won’t forget, though, is her team sprinting from the midfield to greet her by the cage on Oct. 20. Sinck had just rejected all four of No. 3 Connecticut’s penalty strokes to secure SU’s second win over a top-five opponent. A career-high 11 saves in that game, including a sliding stop on a two-on-one in overtime, put the Orange in position for the shutout win.

That performance earned Sinck a conference defensive player of the week award, but a career-game against UConn wasn’t an outlier. No. 14 Syracuse (12-5, 3-3 Atlantic Coast) has leaned on the freshman throughout the season. Sinck entered the year competing for the starting job but has become one of SU’s most important players and the ACC leader in saves per game (3.65).

“I just think she was connected, and in the moment,” SU head coach Ange Bradley said of Sinck’s performance against UConn. “She played fearless.”

Last winter, Syracuse wasn’t on Sinck’s radar. She didn’t even know if she wanted to go to the United States for college. But when the Eindhoven, Netherlands native’s club team switched coaches and added a second goalie, she started researching American universities.

In Syracuse, Sinck found what she was looking for — a top-notch field hockey program and an opportunity to build off an internship at Philips with industrial design. After a 2018 European Championships win with the U18 Dutch national team, Sinck committed to SU in late March of 2019.

“I just wanted to shoot my shot,” Sinck said.

When Sinck started training with Syracuse, she and sophomore Syd Taylor vied for the starting job. Early in the season, they alternated starts, and Bradley often used both in a game. Taylor had a year of prior experience with SU’s system, and Sinck had to learn the different technical aspects of the American game.

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In Europe, players are generally more skilled and have more powerful shots. Sinck had to anticipate shots as players began their shooting motion to be able to react in time. Now playing at Syracuse, Sinck waits until a player connects with the ball to start her save motion.

“It sounds weird,” Sinck said, “but when you go from fast balls to slow balls it’s hard because you have to get adjusted to the timing.”

Since a double overtime win over No. 2 Duke on Sept. 27 in which Sinck allowed one goal in 77 minutes, the freshman has started every match.

At 5-foot-9, Sinck’s style in net is predicated on cutting down angles and making kick saves. Midfielder Carolin Hoffmann said Sinck’s footwork and movement make her tough to beat.

To prevent scores in two-on-ones or other rushes, Sinck’s strategy is to stay upright for as long as possible, then read and react to the opponent. Depending on the forward’s decision, Sinck will either come off her line to cut off a shooting angle or slide to intercept a crossing pass.

With four minutes left in overtime against No. 5 Louisville on Nov. 2, Sinck came off her line once again, this time in a one-on-one situation. She dove and stuffed a Cardinal forward to keep the score tied at one in an eventual upset win — SU’s third top-five win of the season.

Now that she’s adjusted to field hockey in America, Sinck needs to continue her sharp play in the postseason for Syracuse to make an NCAA tournament run.

Published on November 3, 2019 at 11:23 pm

Contact Danny: dremerma@syr.edu | @DannyEmerman