Kayla Alfonso walked off the field struggling to catch her breath. The freshman defender had reason to be winded.

The Orange was contending with one of the fastest teams it has played against all season, and it was taking a toll on its players.

Syracuse went down in a blur against Connecticut right from the beginning. SU head coach Phil Wheddon knew the Huskies were going to come out fast, but his players struggled all game to find a remedy for its opponent’s speed.

‘We prepared our team to play against a fast team, and they were prepared to play against dangerous players up top,’ Wheddon said. ‘I think the pace to the game was a shock. The players that they had running through the midfield, we didn’t match them for pace.’

Goalkeeper Brittany Anghel had to defend against an uncontrollable offense that was able to find space all over the field. Anghel was aware of the Huskies’ plan to attack with numerous players, but it left the defense exposed.

Anghel made a career-high 10 saves in the losing effort, but was still disappointed with the result.

‘They were sending a lot of players forward, and I think it’s important for us to be aware of seeing the whole field, across the field,’ Anghel said. ‘They had, like, five runners coming at us, and we need to drop our midfield back, and we need to plan accordingly because we knew they were going to come at us.’

The Orange fell behind just two minutes into the game. From that point forward, SU needed to try and score.

But that risk ended up enabling UConn to counterattack more effectively. Drawing Syracuse midfielders into the attacking third gave the Huskies the ability to move forward quickly and create odd-man situations.

Sophomore midfielder Rosina Callisto noticed how the Huskies were utilizing their speed from the start of the game. The inability of SU midfielders to get back and defend was cause for concern at halftime.

‘We noticed it from the beginning,’ Callisto said. ‘Rachel (Blum) and I were discussing it. Coming out of halftime, we were like, ‘We have to figure out how to adapt to this because they are flying all over the place.”

But any plans to shift the momentum in the game would be thrown aside when defender Cecilia Borgstrom picked up her second yellow card of the game. The foul not only put the Orange a man down, but it gave the Huskies more room to operate their speedy offense.

Now Anghel had to bail out her defense even more. The field became wide open, and Connecticut’s chances became readily available.

‘At the center of defense, we have to be able to absorb the pressure,’ Wheddon said. ‘At times, we get caught out in the middle of the back and Brittany has to step up for us, and she’s done that on numerous occasions so far.’

The foul caused Wheddon to make appropriate changes to his lineup. The coach placed the sophomore midfielder Blum at center defender. The changes set back any opportunity for the Orange to score, with less midfielders able to move forward.

But the Orange defense gave UConn ample opportunities to score without their starting defender. The Huskies continued to take advantage of all of the space in Syracuse’s defensive end. Blum recognized the Huskies turned Syracuse turnovers into scoring chances.

‘They exposed our mistakes really quickly, and they capitalized on that,’ Blum said. ‘I think we need to stay a little bit more compact going down with one player.’

For Wheddon, the lapses in the game were caused by a lack of organization. Connecticut spread the SU defense and was able to make the most of sporadic opportunities. And in the end, it left the entire Orange team winded.

‘I think that we need to iron out some of the issues we’re having at the center of the back, and even that’s not fair to blame the central defenders,’ Wheddon said. ‘The breakdowns are occurring further up the field and allowing players to run through us. I’m not going to point fingers, but we need to organize, and we’ll be working on that in training this week.’

adtredin@syr.edu

 

Published on September 26, 2010 at 12:00 pm