Syracuse Orange soccer has been a program that has been on the rise over the past few years; however, this season, the men’s team has specifically found some trouble. The women’s team, however, has only one loss in non-conference play and has been in every game they’ve played.
For the men’s team, one of their biggest issues has been playing at home. Even though they are 2-0 away from SU Soccer Stadium, they are 0-2-2 when playing at home, although they have been in games against good teams. They started
off their season on a bad note, as they lost their first game of the season to UConn, 1-0. The main issue in this one was the Orange’s finishing, as they had 10 second-half shots; however, none of which would be put on target
After a 1-0 win away at Loyola, with Tim Brdaric scoring the only goal of the game, the Orange had one of their best games of the season against Penn State, where they played out a 1-1 draw. A 13th-minute goal by Kelvin Da Costa opened the scoring for the Orange, but a 42nd-minute goal by Penn State would tie it back up going into halftime. Both teams had their chances, but after 90 minutes, the game ended in a draw.
They went away to Yale after that, winning 1-0 thanks to a Landon Darko goal. However, when they went back home to Duquesne, they suffered a 1-0 defeat when a pass was intercepted by a Duquesne attacker for a goal. In their most recent game, a 0-0 draw against New Haven, the Orange were clearly the better team, having 68% possession.
As the scorelines clearly show, the Orange men’s biggest issue is their finishing. In their six games, they have only scored three goals. The defense clearly is not the problem, as they have had three clean sheets already this season and have only gave up a total of three goals as well, and the Orange create a lot of chances usually, and they get a lot of shots, however many of them don’t find the net.
The women on the other hand, are not having this issue. I already covered some of their games earlier this season, but since then, the women have been rolling. Other than a heartbreaking loss against the run of play to Niagara, the Orange women have not lost a single game this season, with three wins and three draws in their last six games.
Syracuse took out a lot of their frustration from the Niagara loss against Canisius, as they won 4-0 at home. The game was largely decided in one minute, as in the 13th minute, Maya McDermott and Kendyl Lauher both scored to give the Orange an early 2-0 lead. Mia Klammer and Julia Arbelaez also scored in the second half to complete the 4-0 victory. After Canisius, the Orange played their first away game of the season against Holy Cross, where they won 3-1. Similar to the last game, the Orange went up 2-0 in the first half, with Maya McDermott and Ashley Rauch both scoring to put the Orange ahead. Holy Cross pulled one back on a free kick in the 58th minute, however an Ashley Rauch penalty in the 76th minute would give the Orange a two goal cushion they wouldn’t reliquish.
They had two more away matches after this, the first being against Quinnipiac. This game would be tightly contested the whole way, with a difficult first half ending scoreless. However, in the second half, the Bobcats would open the scoring first, with a volly from outside the box giving them the lead. Just one minute later however, Mia Klammer would answer right back, leveling the game and reaching the final scoreline of 1-1. The next match was against Princeton, and this game would end in a 0-0 draw. This game, the Orange were absolutely pestered with shots, as Princeton finished with 31 (!) to Syracuse’s nine.
The Orange would play out another goaless draw in their next game against Binghamton. The goalkeepers were the story in this one, as Binghamton’s keeper had eight total saves, and Shea Vanderbosch had seven for Syracuse. Their most recent game was a 3-0 victory against Cornell on senior day. The scoring in this one would be opened in the 27th minute, as Gabby Wisbeck would score the first for the Orange. Anna Rupert and Mia Klammer would add two more in a less than 30 second span in the second half to secure the Orange victory.
To me, it seems the key to victory for the Orange in this one is offensive consistency. In some games, they are capable of scoring three or four goals, however in others, they have a lot harder of a time finding the back of the net. If they can just get a little more consistent, they will be in a great spot once ACC play comes around.
The Orange women open ACC play on Thursday against SMU. The men open against Stanford on Saturday
