Never-ending ACC problems, but it’s not getting any easier.
By: Timmy Weiss | @TimmyWeiss3
Syracuse women’s soccer has been in a big-time slump. The Orange have lost 5 straight and dropped to 0-5 in ACC play after a 3-0 loss to then No 5 Wake Forest on Sunday. In that 5 game losing streak, the team has been outscored 14-2. There’s no debating that’s a brutal start to league play, but the competition has been fierce.
In the last 3 games, Syracuse has played top 8 opponents in No 2 Florida State, No 8 North Carolina, and No 5 Wake Forest. Going into these games, it was pretty much a given the team would be handed 3 straight defeats, so it’s not a huge deal that it ended up happening. Any result would have been a bonus. So after the toughest part of the season has been completed, it’s time to zero in on the upcoming games.
The good news is that, with 5 games left, the season is far from over. The bad news is that the competition stays tough. On Saturday, Syracuse squares off against No 17 Notre Dame, and the following week it faces Pittsburgh, whose RPI is 14th in the country. The Fighting Irish are a tough first test but are coming off a tie vs NC State, a team that hasn’t won in ACC play this season. Except ND is a matchup nightmare because it thrives on the exact problem SU has struggled with recently, scoring goals. Notre Dame has allowed just 5 goals in the entire season, and since the start of ACC play the Cuse have scored just 2. If Syracuse wants any chance in this game, that’s a problem it needs to fix. Nicky Thrasher Adams, the team’s head coach said,
“Scoring goals in the ACC is pretty darn hard, but at the end of the day I go back and look and it’s not like we’re creating.”
That’s a huge problem when you’re playing against top 20 teams consistently and something that needs to be solved in the last 5 games this season if the Orange want any chance of making the NCAA tournament.
If SU wants a chance at the tournament, it is absolutely critical that they get at least a tie in the next 2 games. That’s because a requirement to make the NCAA tournament is that a team’s overall record must be above 500. SU currently sits at 6-6-1 so if the squad loses the next two games that would mean the team has to win its last 3 contests. Although, the good news is, the three games after Notre Dame and Pitt, do get slightly easier. The Cuse square off against NC State and Miami in two of its final three games, two teams that have lower RPIs than Syracuse. Then it has one last battle against Boston College on Halloween night that could have massive implications. However, if the Orange don’t pull off a result soon, they can kiss that game goodbye. It’s now or never for Syracuse women’s soccer with ACC play winding down. Every game means more.
