Tom Perevegyencev prepared differently for Syracuse’s men’s soccer game against Rutgers Saturday. Twelve games into the season, the SU forward started his first game.

Perevegyencev usually enters the game midway through the first half, having the luxury of scouting his opponent before entering. He couldn’t do that against the Scarlet Knights.

‘Since I was on the bench I always had an advantage in seeing how the game played,’ Perevegyencev said. ‘And this time I had to prepare mentally and just bring out my A game without knowing how everybody else played.

‘Personally I had just to have my mind in it right away, focus a couple of hours before I would usually focus, and just think of every little situation.’

In his first start of the season, SU’s leading scorer was not a part of the Orange’s two goals. The switch in roles may not continue Saturday when the Orange hosts DePaul at 7 p.m. at the SU Soccer Stadium, but the continuing array of lineups might.

The Orange (5-4-3, Big East 2-4-1) has started 16 different players this season for numerous reasons. Sometimes it’s to ensure better matchups against the opposing team. That was the case Saturday when Perevegyencev got his first start. Head coach Dean Foti wanted to add speed to the field so he gave the junior the nod.

Most of the time, though, lineup juggling is due to players earning the start.

‘We just go by who we think is in the best playing form,’ Foti said. ‘We go by what goes on with training. We just try to keep everyone sort of honest as far as making sure they are putting their best foot forward and not taking for granted their spot on the team.’

For some teams, a rotating lineup would indicate instability. Indeed, Syracuse is winless in its last four games (three of those are losses).

Still, the Orange maintains it is a positive to have at least 16 players who have the talent to start a game. It’s something SU hasn’t enjoyed in recent years. The new depth on the team allows Foti to make more moves than he has in the past.

‘It was almost a situation where one of the better players not playing his best was still better than the player that was going to replace him,’ Foti said. ‘That’s not the case now if someone doesn’t bring their A game to the field one night then they can step aside and we’ll put someone else in.’

To an extent, the constant change in the lineups also can work as a strategy to prevent the opposing team from scouting. Just as Perevegyencev said he uses the first couple of minutes to scout, if the Orange’s lineup continues to change starter, opponents can’t scout and will have to learn on the fly.

‘A lot of times we’ll have a different lineup for the next game,’ midfielder Geoff Lytle, who has started and come off the bench this year, said. ‘The game before we’ll have a certain set of players and we’ll maybe change five or six guys so I think it ads a little unpredictably to us, which a lot of times can turn out real well.’

As Syracuse sits in seventh place in the Big East, one spot out of qualifying for the Big East tournament, the players are trying to get comfortable with not knowing the exact lineup each time out.

For Perevegyencev, he had gotten comfortable coming off the bench all year. He did say he enjoyed starting and adjustment wasn’t too big a change.

For Foti, switching lineups are overrated. The best players will play and they may not always be the same.

‘It’s not necessarily lineup changes, it’s keeping the best players on the field,’ Foti said. ‘The idea is to put the best players on the field. This ain’t intramurals. It’s not like you show up and get a chance to play. The best players are going to play. The best players may not be the same every day.’

mibonner@syr.edu

Published on October 16, 2008 at 12:00 pm