Spring Break
The Daily OrangeMSOC | Stunned Syracuse allows hat trick in 8 minutes
By Jared Diamond
Posted: 10/25/07, 12:10 AM EST Section: Sports
Almost an hour had passed since Mike Seamon finished the most dazzling offensive performance against the Syracuse men's soccer team's defense all season, and Brad Peetoom was still scratching his head. In less than eight minutes, one Villanova forward scored three goals, single-handedly making the Orange's most vaunted unit look lost.
Everybody in the stands and on the sideline seemingly knew what had just happened. Everybody, that is, except for Syracuse's senior captain.
"I honestly didn't know that that one guy scored all the goals," Peetoom said. "I didn't realize it was the matter of a single player that out-skilled all of us. I just saw bad positioning, bad communication, bad stepping up to the ball."
Whether it was poor Syracuse defense or the dynamite Villanova offense, the Orange (5-6-4, 2-6) defense played its worst game of the season in a 3-2 loss to the Wildcats (10-6, 5-4) Wednesday in front of 651 fans at Syracuse Soccer Stadium.
Seamon's second-half hat trick stunned a Syracuse team that held a 1-0 lead at halftime and appeared on its way to a much-needed victory. Instead, the Orange lost a valuable opportunity to pick up three points, and its chances of reaching the Big East tournament grew even slimmer.
And for the first time all year, it wasn't a scuffling offense, but uncharacteristic mental lapses by the defense that eventually cost the Orange. Although Seamon entered the game as the Wildcats' top offensive player with six goals, Syracuse lost him three times before it could regroup.
After the game, SU head coach Dean Foti was surprised to learn that his defense didn't know Seamon scored all three goals.
"I don't think anybody was thinking about too much of anything during those two minutes because we got scored on twice in less than two minutes," Foti said. "We lost our focus, and we certainly lost track of Seamon. There's an example of it. You just mentioned it."
Seamon connected on his first goal late in the 55th minute on a fluke play when teammate Victor Faustino mishit a shot attempt from left of the box. The shot didn't reach the net, and instead rolled through the box right to Seamon for an easy score. For Faustino, a poor shot attempt turned into his first assist of the season.
Everybody in the stands and on the sideline seemingly knew what had just happened. Everybody, that is, except for Syracuse's senior captain.
"I honestly didn't know that that one guy scored all the goals," Peetoom said. "I didn't realize it was the matter of a single player that out-skilled all of us. I just saw bad positioning, bad communication, bad stepping up to the ball."
Whether it was poor Syracuse defense or the dynamite Villanova offense, the Orange (5-6-4, 2-6) defense played its worst game of the season in a 3-2 loss to the Wildcats (10-6, 5-4) Wednesday in front of 651 fans at Syracuse Soccer Stadium.
Seamon's second-half hat trick stunned a Syracuse team that held a 1-0 lead at halftime and appeared on its way to a much-needed victory. Instead, the Orange lost a valuable opportunity to pick up three points, and its chances of reaching the Big East tournament grew even slimmer.
And for the first time all year, it wasn't a scuffling offense, but uncharacteristic mental lapses by the defense that eventually cost the Orange. Although Seamon entered the game as the Wildcats' top offensive player with six goals, Syracuse lost him three times before it could regroup.
After the game, SU head coach Dean Foti was surprised to learn that his defense didn't know Seamon scored all three goals.
"I don't think anybody was thinking about too much of anything during those two minutes because we got scored on twice in less than two minutes," Foti said. "We lost our focus, and we certainly lost track of Seamon. There's an example of it. You just mentioned it."
Seamon connected on his first goal late in the 55th minute on a fluke play when teammate Victor Faustino mishit a shot attempt from left of the box. The shot didn't reach the net, and instead rolled through the box right to Seamon for an easy score. For Faustino, a poor shot attempt turned into his first assist of the season.
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