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Syracuse head coach Nicky Thrasher Adams was frustrated. SU had just dropped its fifth straight match to start Atlantic Coast Conference play — this time falling 3-0 to No. 5 Wake Forest Sunday — and Adams had no answer to her team’s offensive struggles.

Though Adams said she worked on putting her players in “game-realistic” attacking situations in practice, the training didn’t translate to the game. SU mustered nine shots, only two on target, against the Demon Deacons.

“Scoring in the ACC is hard,” Adams said after the Wake Forest game. “I go back and look, and it’s not like we’re creating, so it’s up to the players … We’re gonna keep plugging away.”

As Syracuse’s schedule has gotten tougher in ACC play, its offense has failed to find the back of the net. After recording its third-best nonconference record in program history at 6-1-1, SU has lost its first five conference matchups.

The Orange averaged two goals per game through eight games, yet they have averaged just 0.4 goals in their last five. As a result, midway through its ACC schedule, Syracuse sits at the bottom of the standings as one of four teams without a conference win.

Adams says SU’s attacking issues center around not connecting with the forwards, citing that the gap between the strikers and the rest of the team is too large. The Orange worked all week on having a tighter connection leading up to Wake Forest, but SU couldn’t execute.

“The problem is we were not good technically completing our first two passes, and then we messed up,” Adams said after the WF game.

Syracuse had chances to attack the Demon Deacons on the break multiple times, but its passes over the top were repeatedly off the mark. Any threat from SU quickly subsided.

“I don’t think we’re as good as we’ve been the rest of the season,” Adams said Sunday. “This is the first week that I just didn’t think, as a whole for 90 minutes, that we really competed in the way that we’re capable of.”

Syracuse started the season red-hot on offense. Following a two-win year where injuries decimated the team, Adams’ squad has more depth and an abundance of attacking threats. Ava Uribe, who missed all of the 2023 season with a torn ACL, registered two goals and four assists during SU’s eight nonconference matches but hasn’t recorded a contribution in five ACC contests.

Added depth also came from the transfer portal, with the likes of Vita Naihin (Queens University), Dalani Stephens (UNC Greensboro), Julia Dening (Siena) and Moo Galbus (North Carolina) all contributing to the Orange’s attack.

Eleven different Syracuse players have already found the back of the net this season en route to 18 goals. Last year, when the team scored 16 goals all season, only eight players scored.

Fast starts were another early season trend for the Orange. Eleven of their 16 nonconference goals (68%) came in the first half of matches. However, since ACC play began, Syracuse’s two goals have only occurred when SU was already down 3-0 to SMU and 4-0 to Florida State.

Though, SU’s recent losses have come against some of the best teams in the nation. Then-No. 2 FSU crushed the Orange 5-1 on Sept. 19 and then-No. 8 North Carolina snuck by SU 1-0 on a penalty kick on Sept. 22. Then-No. 5 Wake Forest coasted past Syracuse 3-0 Sunday.

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Following the narrow loss to the Tar Heels, Adams said Syracuse had the toughest schedule to start ACC play, but still sees offensive progress, even if goals haven’t come with it. She said her team could have snatched a goal versus SMU, eked out a draw or win rather than a 1-0 loss at Virginia Tech or took advantage of one of its seven corner kicks at FSU. But SU couldn’t convert its chances.

“It’s not like we are not getting in there and battling,” Adams said after falling to UNC.

Adams also mentioned following the Wake Forest loss that Syracuse’s Rating Percentage Index was still high due to the quality of opponents in the ACC. RPI is a system used to rank teams based on their wins, losses and strength of schedule to determine who qualifies for the NCAA Tournament.

Syracuse’s RPI currently stands at 77th in the nation. Once the season concludes, the top 70 teams are considered potential contenders for the 64-team NCAA Tournament, but not all of them make the cut.

SU’s schedule doesn’t get much easier. Syracuse hosts No. 17 Notre Dame Saturday before traveling to face Pitt (14th in RPI) on Oct. 13. Adams sees these games as a chance to bolster Syracuse’s RPI. And even if it loses, SU’s ranking won’t take much of a hit.

The Orange have some prime chances at nabbing conference victories down the line. It hosts NC State (154th in RPI) on Oct. 17 and Miami (113th) on Oct. 25, before closing out the season at Boston College (60th) on Oct. 31.

With five games remaining in Syracuse’s regular season, the team needs to string together ACC wins to qualify for the NCAA Tournament — something it hasn’t done since 2001.

“Our goal has always been to make the NCAA Tournament,” defender Emma Klein said before the season. “So that’s definitely a huge team goal that we always strive for.”

Published on October 2, 2024 at 11:51 pm

Contact Nicholas: njalumka@syr.edu