Spencer Schomaker pumped his arms over his head. There were still four seconds on the clock, but with the ball in DePaul’s end, Schomaker felt confident enough to start his celebration of Syracuse’s 1-0 win over the Blue Demons a few seconds early.

Why not? In what was a must win for the Orange after going winless in its last four, SU rode midfielder Tom Perevegyencev’s 86th-minute goal to a narrow win in front of 746 fans Saturday at a chilly SU Soccer Stadium.

‘It’s definitely a huge win,’ Schomaker said. ‘We had a week to prepare for this game and all week the message was stressed this was a must-win game, we have to win it for the Big East and our overall standings.’

The win, which moved Syracuse into sixth in the Big East Red Division, was a product of constant offensive pressure throughout the game. Syracuse’s leap in the standings was significant because the top six teams from each division advance to the conference tournament.

In the final 13 minutes of the contest, the Orange (6-4-3, 3-4-1 Big East) fired seven shots. It managed six the previous 77 minutes. The shot barrage forced the Blue Demons (6-5-3, 4-3-1 Big East) to play defensively, and with six minutes left, Syracuse forced the corner kick that led to Perevegyencev’s game-winner.

As the corner sailed in, forward Hansen Woodruff rose to head the ball that seemed destined for the back of the net, but clanked off the crossbar. On the rebound, Pete Hill attempted to punch it in, but the ball was deflected back.

Defender Brien Chamney kept the ball in the zone and set up Schomaker, whose header also hit the crossbar. Finally, Perevegyencev poked the rebound across the goal line.

‘I tried to get to the back of the post where I could get the ball,’ Schomaker said. ‘Luckily it came to my head, I mean I would have liked it to go in, but it hits the post and goes right to Tom and he scores. I’ll take it.’

The Orange had three shots in a minute and a half during the sequence that led to the goal. After the goal, instead of letting up, SU kept the same intensity. In the final five minutes, DePaul got off one shot.

Early on, SU’s offensive gameplan was obvious. In the game’s first five minutes, Kyle Hall streaked up the sidelines twice, receiving touch passes from Schomaker. After receiving the pass both times, Hall had potential breakaway opportunities. He had only one defender to beat to get to the goalie.

‘We worked on this during practice,’ Perevegyencev said. ‘We worked on our offense a lot. We scouted DePaul and it worked out really well.’

The offensive pressure wasn’t present during the middle of the game. During a 61-minute stretch of play, the Orange only had four shots. DePaul wasn’t any better, attempting two shots during that span.

‘It was just the game, no one really had momentum going in,’ Schomaker said. ‘The majority of the game was being played in the midfield. A couple things would happen in the offensive thirds, but it would get shut down.’

SU was able to penetrate and finally beat DePaul goalkeeper Brian Visser, who had allowed seven goals in 13 games. It also injected life into the Orange’s hopes to qualify for the Big East tournament.

Syracuse has three Big East games remaining, including contests against fifth-place Villanova and third-place Louisville. SU is a point behind the Wildcats and three points behind the Cardinals (a soccer team gets three points for a win).

The victory also gave the Orange a tie-breaker over DePaul, which sits in fourth place.

‘I mean we’re looking to win the next three games,’ Perevegyencev said. ‘We have to win them, we want to get in the Big East, we want to be in the top of our division and today it worked out, and we are just that much closer to getting to the Big East.’

mibonner@syr.edu

Published on October 19, 2008 at 12:00 pm