The Daily Orange

Media Credit: Courth Hathaway

Elliott Townsend had a wide-open look at the goal. He had maneuvered past the defense and set up on the right side of the box. With only the goalie to beat, he fired the ball high over the crossbar.

He knew he had wasted his chance.

"I missed a golden one," said Townsend, a senior forward and midfielder. "When you can't convert your chances, it's been the same old story that we've had this season, not being able to finish the ones that we have."

Townsend's missed opportunity was just one of many for Syracuse (2-12, 1-7 Big East), which fell further in the Big East standings after dropping Saturday night's game, 3-0, to No. 12 South Florida (9-2-2, 4-2-2). Syracuse had won the last two meetings against USF, who had never won at SU Soccer Stadium until Saturday night.

Townsend wasn't the only SU player who couldn't find the back of the net, either.

Senior captain Hansen Woodruff had several good looks at the goal but could not convert on any of them. On a free kick of his own, Woodruff fired a shot just over the crossbar. Later in the game, a header from the captain looked like it was headed for the back of the net, but USF goalie Jeff Attinella made one of his two saves to end the scoring threat.

The box score did not tell the whole story of the game. Syracuse put forth one of its best efforts of the season. The Orange kept enormous pressure on USF throughout the first half, and early portion of the second half, by keeping the ball in the offensive zone.

As a result, the Orange dominated the Bulls in every category except the one that mattered: goals scored. Syracuse had 15 shots compared to USF's nine. The Orange also had six corner kicks while South Florida had five.

"We just wanted to prove we can play with them, and I think we did that," said senior midfielder Kenny Caceros. "We can play with them. We did play with them. We outplayed them in a few big parts of the game. We just couldn't come up with the result."

The different styles of the two offenses ultimately led to the final result. Syracuse played a more grinding style throughout the night. The Orange frequently passed the ball deep in USF territory and tried to set up scoring plays.

The setups succeeded in that they gave Syracuse multiple open looks at the net and quality shots. But the results the team wanted never materialized, and the offensive possessions did not yield any goals.

Continued...

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