Brittany Anghel might be on the other side of the field when the Syracuse offense is on the attack, but the SU goalkeeper still sees some shot attempts so easy that it’s puzzling how the Orange don’t score.

‘It’s like being in front of the goal,’ Anghel jokingly said. ‘My grandma could do it.’

For Syracuse, though, it hasn’t been easy. It’s been excruciatingly hard to put the ball in the net. Under head coach Phil Wheddon, scoring goals has been complicated and rare for the Orange. The lack of scoring has been the clear reason why SU has yet to secure a winning season in Wheddon’s tenure.

Since Wheddon took over the team in 2008, Syracuse has struggled to get into an offensive groove, averaging 16 goals a year for three seasons. Last season, the SU offense couldn’t convert key opportunities, scoring just 18 times. The dismal output was the biggest reason the Orange went 6-9-5.

‘I think we were in just about every game last year,’ Wheddon said. ‘We just need people to put the ball in the back of the net.’

Wheddon has seen vast improvement so far this season, but he said his team is still learning how to put those wide-open shots in the back of the net. SU will have to learn quickly if it’s going to achieve its goal of reaching the Big East tournament this year.

The Orange needs to keep its composure when it gets those golden opportunities in front of the net. In those moments, Wheddon said his young and experienced players can get too excited and make mistakes.

‘You’ve got to be smart, and a lot of young players when they get in front of the goal try and break the net,’ Wheddon said. ‘They try to smash the ball as hard as they can, and that leads to a larger margin for error instead of just placing it strategically.’

While scoring has given SU countless fits this season, it is a challenge the squad has faced head on. The team knows its success in 2011 hinges on improving the offense.

Sophomore midfielder Rachel Blum said the shots were there last year, it was just a matter of turning those shots into goals.

‘Last year, we had our opportunities,’ Blum said. ‘We just need to keep making sure we keep striking the ball on goal.’

Those opportunities came and went, with few finding the back of the net. In eight of SU’s 20 games in 2010, the team was shut out by its opponent. Five of those shutouts came against Big East opponents, with four of them ending in losses.

And the Orange was outshot by 34 attempts all of last season.

This year once again, if the Orange wants to win, it has to produce on the offensive end or SU will face the same fate as the past couple of seasons.

Missing the postseason.

‘If we put more goals in the net, we’ll definitely win more,’ senior defender Casey Ramirez said. ‘It’s definitely, I think, our biggest priority right now.’

There’s just one piece missing from the puzzle for this team to be a legitimate threat, junior defender Skylar Sabbag said.

After Syracuse battled a ranked team, Boston College, to a scoreless tie, SU realized what its capabilities are. The Orange also realized its offensive deficiency is holding it back from actually beating an elite team.

‘Right now I think that’s the last piece of the puzzle that we’re missing,’ Sabbag said. ‘We’re pretty strong. After our game against BC, we definitely saw that we could be like a huge threat.’

‘I think the offense is just the one thing. Just scoring goals.’

And that’s what Syracuse has continued to strive toward this season. So far, the results haven’t quite been there, with the squad scoring just five goals in its first eight games. That’s six less goals than SU had at this mark last year.

Still, the players have been more aggressive on offense. The Syracuse offense has forced defenses on its heels in almost every game it has played.

The Orange has had possession of the ball for longer stretches in games. And it has translated to more opportunities.

Unlike last season, SU has outshot opponents by 23, averaging about three more shots each game.

Junior midfielder Tina Romagnuolo said this year’s squad has shown more willingness to impose itself on other teams. Now, it just comes down to turning all that possession and pressure into goals.

And though the increase in opportunities is a sign the team is improving, it still isn’t good enough. Wheddon said it doesn’t matter how many balls you boot on net if you can’t knock them through.

‘It doesn’t matter if you outshoot someone 25-10 if you don’t win the game,’ Wheddon said.

The SU players are aware of that, too. They want to get better end results. And they’re willing to work for it.

They have started showing up to practice more than 30 minutes before they’re supposed to just to start firing on net. Wheddon hasn’t asked his team to show up early, or even floated the suggestion that his team should get to practice early to work on shooting wide-open opportunities.

‘And that’s not me telling them to do that,’ Wheddon said. ‘That’s them asking to come out.’

Usually, Anghel will just stand in goal like a mannequin with her hands up as SU’s offensive players strike shot after shot on net, with teammates or coaches feeding passes right in front of the net.

‘It’s great seeing everyone willing to put extra time into their game even though our schedules are hectic,’ Romagnuolo said in an email to The Daily Orange. ‘It shows the commitment and dedication we all have to become better and to reach our ultimate goal — a Big East tournament.’

Once practice officially begins, Wheddon said scoring goals is always part of training. But he said the team doesn’t follow a strict schedule, and instead it tries to keep things loose and competitive with game situations. The offense matches up against the defense, and the players try to find that scoring punch for which they’ve been putting in the extra time.

Wheddon said that whenever you had an element of competition to practice, it makes things more enjoyable for the players to participate.

Romagnuolo said that lightheartedness has been a marked difference from last year.

‘It’s a great change when we have fun at practice,’ the forward said. ‘I think that was a main issue we had last year. We are all starting to enjoy soccer again, which will help us win.’

Wheddon said pressure is always on him to mold Syracuse into a winner, but he is staying optimistic in his fourth season at the helm. For Wheddon, everything is in place for this team to surprise every team in the Big East. It just comes down capitalizing on the opportunities given.

‘The players are playing good soccer. It’s not like we’re going out there and not playing well,’ Wheddon said. ‘We’re playing well the last few games creating an abundance of chances. It’s just that final piece of the puzzle that we’re lacking. I’m confident in our players. They know they can do it. We know they can do it. It’s just a case of actually executing when the time comes.’

dgproppe@syr.edu

 

Published on September 19, 2011 at 12:00 pm