The Tale of Two Different Seasons. The Good and the Bad in Syracuse Women’s Soccer Up and Down Year.
After 14 games Syracuse women’s soccer has almost perfectly embodied a seesaw. After 8 games the saw tipped heavily towards the winning side and ever since it’s rocked all the way back to even and now even towards the losing side. That’s because the Orange have lost 6 straight games and are 0-6 in ACC play. Now there’s no debating it’s been a tall task to do well. SU has faced 4 straight top 20 teams and it’s a well-known fact that the ACC is the best conference in all of college soccer. But after all the struggles, there are still 4 games remaining this season.
What’s incredible about this up and down season is that despite having a 6 game losing streak Syracuse is the 80th RPI in the nation. How is this possible? Well, it comes down to the fact that they’ve played the number 1 and 2 RPI teams in the country in Wake Forest and North Carolina. Along with that they’ve also played 3 other ranked teams in the last 6 games. It’s truly been a gauntlet, but it’s done now. Finally, there is no ranked teams left on the schedule.
With some more manageable matchups ahead the season is not over. 64 teams make the NCAA tournament, so shockingly the Orange are not eliminated. Now don’t get ahead of yourself, SU has to win at least 3 of the next 4 if they want a remote chance at getting in. That’s because a requirement to make the tournament is that a team is over 500. Given that Syracuse is 6-7-1 right now, the team can only afford one more loss this year or it’s wraps.
The first step in that journey is Sunday against Pittsburgh. The only problem is this is the toughest matchup of the season left. The Panthers may not be ranked, but they are RPI 17. Because of that, this is by far the biggest game of the season left. This is the only chance left for Syracuse to shoot up the RPI rankings. That’s because the other three games are against NC State, Miami, and Boston College, who are RPI 165, 96, and 62 respectively. If the Orange manage to win against the Panthers, the season would change drastically. But it’s a big ask, especially since SU has scored just 2 goals since the start of ACC play and Pitt allows under a goal per game. The scorers have to get back to what they did in the first 8 games, where the team averaged 2 goals per contest. It’s pretty simple, no goals, no wins, no tournament.
There’s no doubt it’s a long shot for Syracuse to make the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2001, but it’s still cool that there’s a chance. Nicky Thrasher Adams has continued to say she believes in this squad, despite every loss they’ve faced recently. All it takes is one win on Sunday to turn this season around and you just never know what could happen after that.
Timmy Weiss
