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Charlotte de Vries sent a pass across the field to Laura Graziosi, who dribbled to the left side of the shooting circle before launching a backhanded shot toward the net. Quirine Comans managed to get her stick on the end of Graziosi’s shot and tap the ball across the goal line for the first goal of her collegiate career. Comans’ effort came with under six minutes left in regulation of the Orange’s matchup against then-No. 8 Rutgers on and sent the game into overtime.

Syracuse ultimately fell to the Scarlet Knights in overtime, but Comans went on to score eight more goals for the Orange throughout the regular season.

“She just does her thing each week,” SU defender SJ Quigley said. “It’s really exciting to watch her play (and) she brings each week in practice a new question to the defense.”

In her first year with the Orange, Comans ended the regular season leading SU in points (26) and goals (9), and its second-most assists (8). While the graduate student didn’t score in SU’s Atlantic Coast Conference tournament run that ended with a semifinal loss to eventual champions North Carolina, Comans will look to recapture her regular season form for the NCAA Championship. Comans’ prior experience in Promotieklasse, a second-tier professional Dutch field hockey division which enabled her to find success in her first season with the Orange.

“She’s played in a women’s division in one of the best leagues in the world,” Syracuse head coach Ange Bradley said. “It should … help step us up and help lead us through this situation (because) she has that experience.”

Comans played for the HV DE Terriers for three years and then HC Klein Zwitserland for one season before joining SU for the 2021 season. Comans helped Zwitserland get promoted into the Hoofdklasse, the top division of Dutch field hockey.

“When you play at that level, you’re playing with former Olympians,” Bradley said. “Holland’s just so deep with their players, playing a really good brand of hockey.”

Comans brought her professional experience to the Orange as a graduate student transfer, facilitating SU’s offense throughout the year from the right flank. Comans’ signature play this season was characterized by speeding past marking defenders and dribbling the ball up along the byline. She then either crossed the ball to set up a teammate for a shot or took a shot at goal herself.

After her first goal against Rutgers, Comans stepped up two days later in SU’s next game against UConn, scoring the two goals that pushed the Orange above the Huskies 5-3. Comans notched four goals during Syracuse’s nine-game winning streak, its longest since 2017.

“(Scoring is) just a feeling, it’s not really a thing I really think about — it just happens,” Comans said. “Before a game I would visualize how I want to score, that I’m going to score, and that’s working well.

But Comans’ most important performance of the season came in a game during which she didn’t score. Thriving in Syracuse’s high-press and counter attacking system, Comans threaded the needle for SU’s offensive unit against North Carolina on, tallying three assists and leading the Orange to their first victory over the Tar Heels since 2015.

“She’s got incredible speed and awareness and experience,” Bradley said. “She’s I think one of the best players in the country.”

Published on November 11, 2021 at 3:38 pm

Contact Bryan: brbrush@syr.edu