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The Daily OrangeWSOC | As Farmer asks for pressure, Orange ties West Virginia
By George Williams
Posted: 10/1/07, 12:41 AM EST Section: Sports
In overtime, Syracuse had four shots-on-goal, which equaled its total for all of regulation. A shift of the formation by Farmer to a 4-5-1 with a five midfielder set allowed SU to get into more of an attack mode, Farmer said.
"I'm not very afraid to lose," Farmer said. "So it's like we're going to go for this in the overtimes. You're trying to upset a top 25 (team). You're not trying to sit in."
The Orange gained its early lead in much the same fashion that nearly produced a victory in the overtime periods. After a disappointing loss to Pittsburgh on Friday night in which Farmer said the team got "outplayed" for the first time all season, the focus before the West Virginia game was to establish an early tempo.
SU defender Sarah VanSickle did just that. Just two minutes into the game, Chelsea Berry passed the ball into the middle of the field where VanSickle stood ready to hammer her first goal of the season into the lower right corner of the net.
For the rest of regulation, SU did little on the offensive side of the ball. The pressure switched to the back four defenders and SU goalkeeper Eliza Bennett-Hattan. Bennett-Hattan was tested often and managed to make to nine saves.
"West Virginia's a great team," VanSickle said. "They like to possess the ball, so we knew that was going to be most of the game. We just knew we had to defend hard and maybe even knock them down just a few times just to tell them we're here, we're not going to let you do this."
SU knew the Mountaineers' strength was in its quickness and ability to showcase a number of offensive weapons. Thus, Farmer said flexibility and problem solving were absolute essentials in defending the WVU players.
"You get tired, but you don't think about it because the game's still on the line," VanSickle said. "It's 1-1 against West Virginia, a ranked team. You don't think about getting tired."
"I'm not very afraid to lose," Farmer said. "So it's like we're going to go for this in the overtimes. You're trying to upset a top 25 (team). You're not trying to sit in."
The Orange gained its early lead in much the same fashion that nearly produced a victory in the overtime periods. After a disappointing loss to Pittsburgh on Friday night in which Farmer said the team got "outplayed" for the first time all season, the focus before the West Virginia game was to establish an early tempo.
SU defender Sarah VanSickle did just that. Just two minutes into the game, Chelsea Berry passed the ball into the middle of the field where VanSickle stood ready to hammer her first goal of the season into the lower right corner of the net.
For the rest of regulation, SU did little on the offensive side of the ball. The pressure switched to the back four defenders and SU goalkeeper Eliza Bennett-Hattan. Bennett-Hattan was tested often and managed to make to nine saves.
"West Virginia's a great team," VanSickle said. "They like to possess the ball, so we knew that was going to be most of the game. We just knew we had to defend hard and maybe even knock them down just a few times just to tell them we're here, we're not going to let you do this."
SU knew the Mountaineers' strength was in its quickness and ability to showcase a number of offensive weapons. Thus, Farmer said flexibility and problem solving were absolute essentials in defending the WVU players.
"You get tired, but you don't think about it because the game's still on the line," VanSickle said. "It's 1-1 against West Virginia, a ranked team. You don't think about getting tired."
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