The Daily Orange

Media Credit: Courth Hathaway

With the rain pouring down on them, Eliza Bennett-Hattan, Sami Hirsh and Erin Quinlan continued to work on goalie drills with Syracuse women's soccer head coach Phil Wheddon before any of their teammates arrived at practice on Tuesday.

As the last line of defense, Bennett-Hattan, SU's No. 1 keeper, has had the job of keeping the Orange in close games this season. And with the way SU's offense has played, that task almost always means not even allowing a single ball to get past her.

This job, however, has not just been bestowed upon Bennett-Hattan. The entire Orange defense is collectively responsible for keeping opposing attacks in check. Hayley George is one Syracuse defender who has been feeling the added pressure of not allowing any goals.

"It's just frustrating because usually we can still be in the game if they are only one goal up, but we haven't been generating a lot of offense," George said. "It's been frustrating on our part because if we get a goal, we're tied and we're still in the game, so it's really hard to lose 1-0."

Syracuse has lost, 1-0, three times this season, and has been shut-out eight separate times, including in each of its last three games. The Orange has only scored nine goals in 15 games this season, which has made its defense's job a lot tougher. The team as a whole, however, needs to improve its play if SU is going to finish well this season.

The Orange (4-8-3, 1-5-1 Big East) travels to Piscataway, N.J., tonight to take on No. 10 Rutgers (10-2-3, 4-1-2 Big East). Last season, SU lost, 1-0, to the Scarlet Knights at SU Soccer Stadium.

Of Syracuse's eight losses this season, six of them have been by two goals or fewer, and four of them have been by merely a single goal.

Despite the lack of offensive production by his team, Wheddon places the blame for SU's sub-par season on the entire roster, not just the offense.

"There are 11 people on the field, and if 10 people did their job properly, the goalkeeper would never see a shot," Wheddon said. "It's from the forwards to the defenders; everyone needs to take responsibility for every goal that goes in because it's a team thing, not an individual thing."

Syracuse has allowed the first goal in every game but three this season. The only times the Orange has held a lead during a game were during its three consecutive wins against Fordham, Binghamton and Colgate, which came more than a month ago.

Continued...

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