Hansen Woodruff only had the goalie to beat.

The second-largest crowd ever at the Syracuse Soccer Stadium rose to its feet as he broke through the pack. The missed opportunities were about to end. But instead, the shot sailed wide and out of bounds. Woodruff threw his hands into the air and onto his head in utter disbelief.

But as SU’s head coach Dean Foti said, the Orange was still setting the tempo, albeit without finishing. The missed opportunities wouldn’t last much longer.

‘There’s only one ball,’ Foti said. ‘If you have it they can’t be dangerous, so in this game that’s what we try to do.’

Last Friday night, 1,257 fans watched the Orange do just that. SU controlled the ball and cruised to an easy 3-0 over win Canisius, the program’s 400th all time.

The Orange outshot the Golden Griffins 22-5 in the game, and 14-1 in the first half.

The chances were there, but Syracuse only led 1-0 at halftime.

This until junior Tom Perevegyencev took over. He tacked on the Orange’s second and third goals in a one-minute, 26-second span. Both goals were created by the domination of SU’s ball control.

SU also dominated in corner kicks. Syracuse took seven corner kicks, one of which resulted in a Perevegyencev goal. In the first half alone, the Orange attempted four while Canisius had none.

‘I feel like today we outworked the other team,’ Perevegyencev said. ‘And our defense stepped up to every player. We were pretty good at keeping the ball.’

Most of the players weren’t as lucky as Perevegyencev, though. Senior Kyle Hall lost his footing during the Orange’s first legitimate scoring opportunity, while Nick Olivetti and Justin Arena had their own opportunities go wayward as well.

Foti though, reminded his team that even though the ball may not find the back of the net, good opportunities would eventually lead to goals.

‘(I) basically said just keep doing what we’re doing,’ Foti said. ‘That’s what’s getting us the chances. You know the guys up front are too good not to score goals.’

Woodruff found the back of the net 25:14 into the game from a Geoff Lytle pass.

‘That was just amazing because we had so many opportunities, and we were just waiting for that little moment for someone to score,’ Perevegyencev said.

Following Woodruff’s goal, Hall had another opportunity. But Canisuis’ goalie, Luke Seymour made a sliding stop as the Syracuse forward was on a breakaway.

After getting SU on the board, Woodruff was faced with only more frustration. Late in the first half during an unsettled situation, freshman Perevegyencev deflected a long pass backward to Woodruff for a clear shot at the net. Woodruff dinged the ball off the iron.

Syracuse’s ball control kept forcing the Golden Griffins into bad situations, causing them to foul. Canisius finished the game with 14 fouls, and 10 in the second half. Canisius failed to maintain possession and only mustered five shots. The constant pressure from SU finally paid off even after numerous disappointments of balls rolling wide and clanging off the crossbar.

Even with all the missed scoring chances, the Orange didn’t allow the scoreboard to affect its mindset.

‘It wasn’t getting frustrating because this is part of the game,’ Perevegyencev said. ‘I feel like we have to have chances all the time. Of course we’d like to capitalize on as many opportunities as possible but if we score one or two goals a game that’s enough to win it.’

mibonner@syr.edu

Published on September 1, 2008 at 12:00 pm