Karol Wasielewski collapsed to the ground and lay face down, motionless.

The Syracuse men’s soccer defender had just watched West Virginia forward Paul Paradise head the ball into the back of the net in the 107th minute of what had been a scoreless tie. The golden goal in double overtime handed SU its first loss of the season, 1-0, Sunday afternoon at the Syracuse Soccer Stadium.

In the aftermath, the Orange players stood in silent disbelief, most with hands on hips, some hunched over with their hands over their heads. Syracuse (4-1-3, 1-1), had outplayed the No. 5 Mountaineers (5-2, 1-1) most of the game, particularly in the second half, when it won the shooting battle, 14-6. The Orange was coming off of a 2-0 win over Pittsburgh on Friday in its Big East opener.

In the end, the frustration Syracuse felt was characteristic of the game. The Orange relied on a speed advantage to push the ball upfield in breakaway circumstances, but the shots were off the mark and the Orange failed to convert numerous scoring opportunities.

‘It’s tough when you have so much of the game and you’re not finishing off chances,’ SU forward Spencer Schomaker said. ‘I mean, it’s just weird; we have so much intensity, we’re so pumped up to play and we’re just not finishing off our chances. It is a bit frustrating.’

The deciding goal stemmed from a rare mistake by the Syracuse back line. Poor communication between SU sophomore defender Pete Hill and Wasielewski led to a failed clear, as Hill had to make a last-minute play and ended up kicking it past the goal line. The play resulted in a corner kick, on which WVU capitalized and eventually scored.

‘It may have been easier for him to go and hit it up the field, but none of us took charge and made the call, so it ended up going out,’ Hill said of the miscue.

On the offensive side of the ball, Kyle Hall led the way on many of Syracuse’s scoring chances, particularly in the second half. The team’s second-leading scorer found his way behind the West Virginia defense a number of times, but he could not get his shot on the mark.

‘I had a couple of good opportunities, and for some reason, my shot today was just rising,’ Hall said. ‘I think I was leaning back too much in the shots. I thought I could correct it during the game, but the chances were there, that’s the positive thing, and I know next time I’ll definitely bury those.’

Frustration seemed to mount for Hall as the day went on. After being whistled offsides in the 83rd minute, Hall booted the ball into the fence behind the opposing goal. Three minutes later, he sent a clear shot from the right, sailing far over the goal. Hall buried his face into his jersey as he watched his shot sail toward the parking lot.

For Hall, the culmination came when he was called for a hand ball after being bumped on a breakaway late in the second overtime. The forward was visibly upset with the call, and less than two minutes later, the game was over.

‘I found it hard to get into a groove during the game, and I was kind of on the ref’s case,’ Hall said. ‘I should have stayed more positive, but that’s my fault.’

SU head coach Dean Foti said after the game he thinks his team could benefit from a different style of attack on offense.

‘We have to be more accurate with our shooting,’ Foti said. ‘I think we can be a little bit more patient attacking-wise so that the shape of the attack is a little more organized instead of just serving that big ball forward and hoping a faster player gets on the end of it.’

If past games this season are any indication, it should have come as no surprise that the game was decided by a single goal. All six of West Virginia’s games going into Sunday had been decided by one goal. Syracuse had allowed only three goals through seven games, three of which ended in ties.

For Foti, that type of game will be typical as the Big East schedule goes on. He said Big East games are typically decided by one goal, and one play is commonly the decider in 90 minutes or more of soccer. But despite coming out on the losing end this time, Foti pointed out the positives of a loss against a team that came in ranked No. 5 in the country in the NSCAA/Adidas poll.

‘Statistically, there are areas of this game that we dominated,’ Foti said. ‘That gives us a lot of confidence as we go into these other games.’

Published on September 23, 2007 at 12:00 pm