Spring Break
The Daily OrangeSyracuse men's soccer splits pair of home games as season comes to an end
By Andrew L. John
Posted: 11/2/09, 2:33 AM EST Section: Sports
Heading into Senior Day on Sunday night, the Syracuse men's soccer team found a little inspiration from a rather unfamiliar place: a convincing two-goal win the previous night against Cincinnati.
The win was only the third of the season for the Orange, but it was enough to infuse some hope heading into a matchup against a St. John's team that was fighting for postseason positioning in the Big East conference tournament.
But despite the optimism, Syracuse (3-15, 2-9 Big East) fell, 2-0, to St. John's (7-2-8, 6-1-4) Sunday evening in front of a crowd of 622 at SU Soccer Stadium in the season finale. The Orange ended its campaign with a satisfying effort - an effort that the players say hasn't been there throughout the season. The Orange defeated Cincinnati, 3-1, on Saturday.
"We got the big win yesterday, and we knew it would be a tough turnaround coming 24 hours after, and I think we actually gave better effort this game than last game against one of the better possession teams in the conference," senior co-captain Pete Hill said following Sunday's loss. "We kept the ball, we played right with them, we got our chance, we just couldn't finish them. But we played great."
After weeks of frustration, the pair of weekend games allowed Syracuse to finish its season with two solid efforts against two Big East opponents. Though the Orange was only able to come away with a victory Saturday against the Bearcats (8-10, 3-8), it's the positive effort that was on display that left the players fulfilled.
"Obviously it would've been better to finish with a win," senior midfielder Kenny Caceros said. "But I think the performance was good, and I 'm happy that we went out with this kind of performance.
"Even though we lost, you saw that the performance was great. We played hard, we played well, we just couldn't put the ball in the net."
Against Cincinnati, Syracuse was able to capitalize on second-half scoring opportunities, something that the Orange has had a difficult time doing throughout the entire season.
The win was only the third of the season for the Orange, but it was enough to infuse some hope heading into a matchup against a St. John's team that was fighting for postseason positioning in the Big East conference tournament.
But despite the optimism, Syracuse (3-15, 2-9 Big East) fell, 2-0, to St. John's (7-2-8, 6-1-4) Sunday evening in front of a crowd of 622 at SU Soccer Stadium in the season finale. The Orange ended its campaign with a satisfying effort - an effort that the players say hasn't been there throughout the season. The Orange defeated Cincinnati, 3-1, on Saturday.
"We got the big win yesterday, and we knew it would be a tough turnaround coming 24 hours after, and I think we actually gave better effort this game than last game against one of the better possession teams in the conference," senior co-captain Pete Hill said following Sunday's loss. "We kept the ball, we played right with them, we got our chance, we just couldn't finish them. But we played great."
After weeks of frustration, the pair of weekend games allowed Syracuse to finish its season with two solid efforts against two Big East opponents. Though the Orange was only able to come away with a victory Saturday against the Bearcats (8-10, 3-8), it's the positive effort that was on display that left the players fulfilled.
"Obviously it would've been better to finish with a win," senior midfielder Kenny Caceros said. "But I think the performance was good, and I 'm happy that we went out with this kind of performance.
"Even though we lost, you saw that the performance was great. We played hard, we played well, we just couldn't put the ball in the net."
Against Cincinnati, Syracuse was able to capitalize on second-half scoring opportunities, something that the Orange has had a difficult time doing throughout the entire season.
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