It wasn’t an easy walk to the bus for Colgate defender Jeff Leach, even after he scored the game-tying goal for his team.

With his jersey in hand, socks rolled down to his ankles, Leach limped across the field until he could finally relax on the team bus in the parking lot.

One consolation might be that he won’t be the only player sore tomorrow. Especially in a game mired with 31 total fouls and three yellow cards.

‘It was a real physical game,’ said Syracuse forward Spencer Schomaker. ‘Their defenders were really tough. I didn’t have any time to receive a ball. They were up our butts the whole game.’

Schomaker found out firsthand. He went down in the first half after getting elbowed in the head. The second half was no different. The senior took an elbow to the back, by Colgate’s Leach that could be heard up on the bleachers of the Syracuse Soccer Stadium. There were also subtle pushes and shoves by both squads in the 1-1 tie.

The foul on Shomaker resulted in one of three yellow cards that were given to the Raiders.

‘Colgate is always going to be a game with a lot of energy and emotion, and tonight was no different,’ said head coach Dean Foti. ‘I thought the referee did a pretty good job though.’

To an extent the players were expecting a physical game from the Raiders, which advanced to the NCAA tournament last year. The game was close throughout. The two teams battled back and forth throughout the match to gain an advantage but eventually ended in a stalemate. The proximity of the two schools – the Raiders made the short trip from Hamilton, N.Y. – might have added an edginess to the game.

‘We just saw them last spring, we see them every year, we know a lot of those guys, some of them tried to come here, some of us tried to go there,’ said senior Pete Rowley. ‘It’s a nice rivalry. And there’s a lot of respect between the two programs, but we’re going to come out with our best foot forward, and it’s going to be a physical game every time.’

When the teams last met in 2005, there were 24 fouls and no yellow cards. This year’s version of the rivalry featured more fouls, not to mention the trash-talking going on.

‘You know I say it might have been,’ Schomaker said when asked if this was more intense than past years.

Even with the three-year hiatus between meetings, the Orange still expected a tough game. Foti took the physicality as a compliment, saying when a team becomes physical with you they have respect for you.

The Raiders may have checked out the box score from SU’s last game. Syracuse dominated Canisius on both ends of the field, firing 22 shots and only allowing five. Against Colgate, the Orange managed only six shots in the second half and 19 in the game.

‘It affects us, I don’t think it affects us physically as much as it does mentally,’ Foti said. ‘You still have to stay focused and concentrate on playing soccer, playing good soccer.’

Foti said the difficult part of such a rough game is managing emotion, whether it be staying in the desired offensive or defensive sets, or just keeping cool after a dirty play. The key is realizing if you’re taken out of your comfort zone, you might be taken out of the game.

‘It’s tough, yeah it’s tough sometimes,’ Rowley said. ‘You just have to (stay calm). It’s just the bottom line. You have to keep your cool or you’re not going to be on the field. So if you want to see the grass you have to keep your cool.’

mibonner@syr.edu

Published on September 1, 2008 at 12:00 pm