Syracuse Falls to Pitt 3-0 despite a close game late in the 2nd half.
By Timmy Weiss | @TimmyWeiss3
PITTSBURGH, PA – 75 minutes into the game Syracuse and Pittsburgh were tied at 0-0…somehow. Despite the fact that the Panthers had nearly 30 shots and 12 shots on goal and Syracuse had just 1 shot on goal, it was all knotted up. That was until Deborah Abiodun broke the tie and Shea Vanderbosch’s incredible clean sheet.
After that things started to get ugly. Pitt scored just 5 minutes later and 5 minutes after that it scored again. After a valiant effort and being tied with just 15 minutes to go Syracuse (6-8-1, 0-7 in Atlantic Coast) was handled by Pittsburgh (9-3-2, 3-2-1 in Atlantic Coast) 3-0.
Even though Syracuse nearly pulled off a result in this one, there’s really not much to be happy about. The Orange allowed 37 shots and a staggering 25 of those came in the second half. That comes just one week after the team allowed a season-high 38 shots against Notre Dame. Just as last week the team was lucky it was only a 3-0 loss.
Syracuse goalkeeper Shea Vanderbosch single-handedly kept the Cuse in the game today. The junior had a season-high 14 saves, which was just one save shy of her career-high 15 last year against Florida State. Her impressive display included a top-corner save off a free kick and multiple saves in 2-minute spans. SU really didn’t give her a break today as they bagged just 3 shots the entire day.
The scoring problems only continued as it’s now the 4th straight game Syracuse has failed to score a goal. The last time the Orange scored was on September 19th against Florida State, when Ashley Rauch scored a shot from the way out. Unlike the beginning of ACC play, there haven’t been many chances to score recently. In the last 3 games before today against No. 3 Wake Forest, No. 2 North Carolina, and No. 13 Notre Dame the team didn’t threaten the net at all. The Cuse only has 9 shots on goal in the last 4 games. This isn’t something that’s happened all season. Keep in mind SU had 16 goals in the first 8 games. Also in the beginning of ACC play the team was unlucky to score just 2 goals in the first 3 contests of league play. But recently it’s been no chances and there are no goals as a result.
NCAA tournament hopes are pretty much eliminated now after starting the ACC slate 0-7, but the matchups are getting easier coming up. The first of the last 3 games is NC State on Thursday back at SU Soccer Stadium. The Wolfpack are 0-5-1 in ACC play. This is the perfect opportunity to grab that first league win. Game time is at 7.
eweiss10@syr.edu| @TimmyWeiss3
