A 4-0 start; two wins over ranked opponents and tight games against three more; a 3-7-1 conference record; a five-game streak without scoring a goal; a devastating defense; a loss on senior night and a freshman goalie ranked 13th in the nation in goals against average.

A rollercoaster ride is quite descriptive of the Orange men’s soccer season. And, just like any coaster, it ended with a gasp.

For the first time in five years, SU qualified for the Big East tournament, drawing Notre Dame in the first round. Syracuse ended its season with a 4-2, penalty shootout loss to the Irish last Wednesday.

The Orange knew what had to be done while traveling to South Bend, Ind., having already fallen to the Irish by a goal Sept. 18. The experience seemed to pay off early, as SU outshot the Irish 11-8 in the first half and took five more corner kicks, but something was missing.

‘It went pretty good,’ SU head coach Dean Foti said. ‘We completely outplayed them for the first 30 minutes of the game, but unfortunately didn’t have a goal to show for it.’

In fact, the Orange didn’t have a goal to show for its hard work at the end of the second half, the first overtime or the second overtime either. Lucky for Foti’s squad, neither did the Irish.

‘We took it to them,’ forward Pete Rowley said. ‘The first time we played them, we gave them too much respect and kind of sat back.’

The scoreless tie in a playoff scenario drove the contest to a shootout. Things just weren’t meant to be for Syracuse, though, as the Orange fell 4-2 in penalty kicks. Notre Dame advanced.

The loss counted as a tie in the standings but eliminated the Orange from the postseason, finishing its year at 7-8-4 overall with many players disappointed.

‘I think they were (let down),’ Foti said. ‘Penalty kicks are a bad way to win a game, but it’s a worse way to lose a game. I felt like we did everything in our power to win that game and were unlucky not to win it.’

The tournament loss was a good example of what plagued the Orange all year: trouble scoring goals.

‘We had chances (to score),’ Rowley said. ‘We made some very good opportunities for ourselves and just didn’t capitalize on them.’

The Orange averaged about 12 shots a game, but netted less than a goal a game. In total, SU converted 15 of 234 shots in 2005.

Another demonstration of Syracuse’s lack of scoring shows in the season score sheet. Of the 15 players who took shots this season, only eight scored and no one outside of Rowley scored twice. The redshirt freshman had six goals.

Foti said much of his team’s goal-scoring troubles stem from the Orange’s youth. Seventeen members of SU’s team were either freshmen or sophomores this season.

‘A year ago, most of these guys were playing against 17-year-olds,’ Foti said. ‘Now they’re playing against 23, 24 and 25-year-olds. It’s unrealistic to think they’re going to step in and score goals right away.’

Even though scoring was a chore in 2005, Foti was pleased with the progress made. The team is moving in the right direction; now it just has to turn scoring opportunities into goals, he said.

‘We just have to be more consistent instead of playing well one game and not well the next,’ Foti said.

A good example came midseason when Syracuse defeated No. 22 South Florida, 1-0, only to fall to Oneonta State in its next contest. SU had defeated Oneonta in nine prior matchups.

The Orange’s big strength was defense, giving up less than a goal a game, and notching five shutouts. The strong unit was headlined by the freshman Cavicchia, who saved 76 of 93 shots by opponents.

Cavicchia stepped in net to begin the season as starting goalies Alim Karim and Rich Scheer were banged up. He performed well from the get-go, and Foti never took him out.

‘He’s a very solid piece of the puzzle in a game where you need a lot of pieces,’ Foti said.

Even though SU will lose senior contributors Pat Gallagher, Mike McCallion and Ezra Prendergast, there are high hopes for the future. Both Rowley and Cavicchia will be back for three more seasons, and they will be joined by 21 other returnees next year.

Said Rowley: ‘It’s a good foundation that we’ve built here. We have a lot of young guys with a lot of experience. There is no doubt in my mind that the Syracuse team can come out and win the Big East and make noise in the NCAA Tournament.’

Published on November 8, 2005 at 12:00 pm