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The pressure was mounting on the Duke goal as Syracuse lined up for its third corner kick of the game. After weeks of stagnant offense, Syracuse looked like it was going to score.

SU launched the corner kick into the box, and as the heads went up, Jenna Tivnan’s header forced a good save out of Duke goalkeeper Brooke Heinsohn. The save landed in the box, and as the ball bounced around, it struck the hand of Duke defender Emmy Duerr and resulted in a penalty for the Orange.

Meghan Root stepped up to take the penalty. After leading the Orange in goals last season, Root looked likely to score SU’s first this season. After a short run-up, Root fired her shot to the right side of the goal, but a diving Heinsohn stopped Syracuse from scoring. The search for a goal would continue.

“Meg had the confidence, so I’m happy she went up and took it, and it’s unfortunate that it didn’t go in,” Shannon Aviza said.

In a 4-0 loss to No. 5 Duke (5-1-2, 3-1-2 Atlantic Coast Conference), Syracuse (0-5, 0-5) continued its worst start in program history. The Orange have played only conference opponents this season, and the team has yet to score a single goal. Just one game after having one shot on target against No. 1 UNC, Syracuse had only two shots on goal in the first half. But after a halftime formation switch, the Orange created many more chances and finished with six shots on goal in the second half.

“I think a lot was said at halftime, when you pick and choose how hard you want to play, it’s a problem,” head coach Nicky Adams said. “Just simplified it a bit more in terms of the formation against them in the second half and decided to press the hell out of them because we had nothing to lose being 3-0 down.”

Syracuse began the game with the 5-3-2 formation it used against UNC but tried to involve its wingbacks more, as Telly Vunipola would often join the attack and take positions higher up the field. But as in the game against UNC, the tactics didn’t work, and the Orange came out of halftime in the more conventional 4-2-3-1 that the team used in the first few games.

The switch allowed for players such as Root to take advantage of space down the wings. While Duke enjoyed the majority of the possession, Syracuse managed to string some passes together and force the ball into the Duke half. After a good spell of possession, Syracuse won its first corner in the 71st minute, something the Orange were unable to do against North Carolina and struggled to do in the first half against Duke.

In the first half, striker Hannah Pilley was left isolated up front. On many occasions, Pilley would receive the ball and hold it up, only to lack teammates to pass to. Pilley found more success linking up with her teammates after the halftime switch, and that led to more corner kicks and scoring opportunities, such as the penalty kick.

“What’s happening in the past is that we’re playing target players, and we’re playing almost hero balls to get in, and we’re not as athletic, currently, as other ACC teams,” Adams said. “Which is fine, we just have to play to our strengths, so I thought we did a much better job in the second half of playing to our identity.”

While Syracuse did play better in the second half and managed to create several clear goal-scoring chances, the scoreline at the end showed how far the Syracuse offense still has to go. In the 54th minute, Tivnan received the ball near midfield and played a long ball over the top of the defense to Kate Hostage. The redshirt junior midfielder let the ball bounce once before taking a shot on the half volley. The ball sailed wide right, and Hostage fell to the ground in disappointment.

Along with her missed penalty, Root fired two shots on goal that resulted in routine saves for the goalkeeper. It’s been a problem all season, as Syracuse has yet to score a goal and has never gone this far into a season without one. Still, the offensive resurgence in the second half showed the Orange can create chances, they just have to take them.

“Look, we had opportunities to score. Kate Hostage should’ve taken a couple touches and slotted it back post, Aysia (Cobb) has opportunities, Mackenzie Vlachos, Jenna (Tivnan) on set pieces,” Adams said. “To win games, you have to score goals.”

Published on October 18, 2020 at 4:02 pm

Contact Gaurav: gshetty@syr.edu