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http://dailyorange.com/2014/09/syracuse-looks-to-avoid-slow-start-against-clemson/
By Matt SchneidmanAsst. Copy Editor
10 hours ago
Louis Cross called it a wake-up call.
Juuso Pasanen’s 18th-minute goal against Cornell turned around a lackluster first 17 minutes against the Big Red, after Syracuse came out flat following a high-intensity game with Notre Dame.
When SU travels to Clemson, South Carolina, to take on the Tigers on Saturday at 5 p.m., the No. 23 Orange (5-1, 0-1 Atlantic Coast) can’t afford another slow start. The Orange faces a Clemson (3-3, 1-0 ACC) team with a much more balanced attack than the Big Red — one that will be more equipped than Cornell to pounce on early SU miscues.
“We were a bit down after (the Notre Dame) game,” Cross said. “But we knew we had to draw a line straight away.”
As Cornell pestered the Syracuse back line in the early stages of Tuesday night’s game, the Orange at times scrambled to find its marks and was left to foul the Big Red attackers to prevent goal-scoring chances.
Normally, goalkeeper Alex Bono, Jordan Murrell, Tyler Hilliard and whoever is in the middle have near-flawless execution in playing the ball out of defense on the ground. But on Tuesday, the majority of clearances were in the air and a handful even went out of bounds on the fly.
After a stretch in which Cross, Murrell, Bono and McIntyre all vocally urged Syracuse to get in the game, captain Nick Perea motioned with his hands for the team to “calm down.”
“It was a very slow start,” Pasanen said. “I think we need to work on that because we can’t have a slow start like that against ACC teams.”
Conor Goepel is Cornell’s only goal-scorer this year, as the team has only put two balls in the back of the net now through five games. When Syracuse takes on Clemson, though, it will face a team that has had seven different players score the team’s eight goals on the season.
In the first 20 minutes of last year’s meeting, one which SU won 1-0, the Tigers had four shots and two corner kicks, applying early pressure on the Orange defense of Oyvind Alseth, Murrell, Thomas and Chris Makowski.
In that game, Clemson outshot Syracuse 12-6 and had a 6-to-1 advantage in corner kicks taken. Similar to Tuesday, the Orange found a way to eke out a victory despite not always being on the front foot, something McIntyre said is a testament to his team’s ability to rebound from stagnant stretches during a game.
“We talked about perhaps not being at our best,” McIntyre said. “Good teams have that consistency and we found a way.”
Cross said he thinks the Orange can get a “surprise” result at Clemson, but the bigger surprise might be if the Tigers are able to score early on a team that’s surrendered only one goal all season.
In order to keep Clemson off the score sheet for a second straight year, Pasanen said the Orange will have to change how it comes out of the gate, and change it quick.
“We’ve got to get better tomorrow (in practice),” Pasanen said after Tuesday’s game. “We’ve got Clemson coming up next away and we’ve just got to be 110 percent ready for that game.”
By Matt SchneidmanAsst. Copy Editor
10 hours ago
Louis Cross called it a wake-up call.
Juuso Pasanen’s 18th-minute goal against Cornell turned around a lackluster first 17 minutes against the Big Red, after Syracuse came out flat following a high-intensity game with Notre Dame.
When SU travels to Clemson, South Carolina, to take on the Tigers on Saturday at 5 p.m., the No. 23 Orange (5-1, 0-1 Atlantic Coast) can’t afford another slow start. The Orange faces a Clemson (3-3, 1-0 ACC) team with a much more balanced attack than the Big Red — one that will be more equipped than Cornell to pounce on early SU miscues.
“We were a bit down after (the Notre Dame) game,” Cross said. “But we knew we had to draw a line straight away.”
As Cornell pestered the Syracuse back line in the early stages of Tuesday night’s game, the Orange at times scrambled to find its marks and was left to foul the Big Red attackers to prevent goal-scoring chances.
Normally, goalkeeper Alex Bono, Jordan Murrell, Tyler Hilliard and whoever is in the middle have near-flawless execution in playing the ball out of defense on the ground. But on Tuesday, the majority of clearances were in the air and a handful even went out of bounds on the fly.
After a stretch in which Cross, Murrell, Bono and McIntyre all vocally urged Syracuse to get in the game, captain Nick Perea motioned with his hands for the team to “calm down.”
“It was a very slow start,” Pasanen said. “I think we need to work on that because we can’t have a slow start like that against ACC teams.”
Conor Goepel is Cornell’s only goal-scorer this year, as the team has only put two balls in the back of the net now through five games. When Syracuse takes on Clemson, though, it will face a team that has had seven different players score the team’s eight goals on the season.
In the first 20 minutes of last year’s meeting, one which SU won 1-0, the Tigers had four shots and two corner kicks, applying early pressure on the Orange defense of Oyvind Alseth, Murrell, Thomas and Chris Makowski.
In that game, Clemson outshot Syracuse 12-6 and had a 6-to-1 advantage in corner kicks taken. Similar to Tuesday, the Orange found a way to eke out a victory despite not always being on the front foot, something McIntyre said is a testament to his team’s ability to rebound from stagnant stretches during a game.
“We talked about perhaps not being at our best,” McIntyre said. “Good teams have that consistency and we found a way.”
Cross said he thinks the Orange can get a “surprise” result at Clemson, but the bigger surprise might be if the Tigers are able to score early on a team that’s surrendered only one goal all season.
In order to keep Clemson off the score sheet for a second straight year, Pasanen said the Orange will have to change how it comes out of the gate, and change it quick.
“We’ve got to get better tomorrow (in practice),” Pasanen said after Tuesday’s game. “We’ve got Clemson coming up next away and we’ve just got to be 110 percent ready for that game.”
Ian McIntyre@ismcinty
