For every step forward the Syracuse field hockey team takes, there always seems to be a step in the opposite direction lurking.This past weekend was a perfect example for the Orangewomen.Syracuse was able to finally get its first Big East win of the year Friday night, defeating Providence, 1-0, on a Michelle Sola penalty corner goal. It was a must-win game for the Orangewomen that kept their faint postseason hopes alive.Sunday should have been a perfect time for Syracuse to build on that momentum. Instead, the Orangewomen lost, 3-2, to a Dartmouth team that came into the game with only one win.The problem that has plagued Syracuse (5-9, 1-3 Big East) all season – consistency – plagued it over the weekend. Time is running out for the Orangewomen to fix the problem.’It was frustrating,’ Syracuse head coach Kathleen Parker said. ‘We can’t play with any consistency. We need to focus better on playing as a team and playing more consistently.’ Syracuse hasn’t won back-to-back games in more than a month, dating back to Sept. 14, when it won its third straight game against Columbia, 4-0, to improve to 3-3.Parker thinks the problem has as much to do with teamwork as anything else. Even earlier in the year, when SU struggled to an 0-3 start against some tough competition, she felt confident in her team’s ability to play together. But now, she’s beginning to question whether that’s still the case. ‘At the beginning of the season, I thought this was going to be a team that played well together because there was nobody (who was) going to carry us,’ Parker said. ‘I thought we were going to play that way. But now, in Sunday’s game, I didn’t think there was much team play. We need to correct that.’Senior Ann-Marie Guglieri agreed with Parker about the state of the team.’She was right,’ Guglieri said. ‘Sunday, our mental focus wasn’t really there. I don’t know if it was because it was a long weekend, but that can’t be an excuse for a loss.’Friday night’s win against Providence (8-8, 0-3) was particularly impressive for Syracuse given that it was the first time that SU has played on grass in the past two years. Goalie Betsy Wagner stopped five shots to earn her third shutout of the season.But Sunday, the Orangewomen switched back to a turf field at Dartmouth (2-10). Despite seeing Michelle Sola score for the second-consecutive game and Meredith Gettel notch her team-leading sixth goal, the team wasn’t ready, Parker said. ‘I told them to forget about the surface and not make it an issue,’ Parker said. ‘But we spent three quarters of the game playing a grass style. We weren’t mentally focused. We just have to keep learning.’The inconsistent weekend – and season – aside, Syracuse is still hoping for a strong finish, and it’s not ready to give up on making the Big East tournament.To do so, SU must defeat Connecticut on Oct. 26 and hope the Huskies fall to Providence in their final game of the season.’It was very important,’ Guglieri said about beating Providence. ‘We’re not counting ourselves out yet. We have a big game up against UConn and there’s a lot more Big East games to get played between UConn and Providence and everyone else, so we’re not counting ourselves out yet.’Parker, likewise, agreed about the game at Providence and, perhaps because of how the season has gone, said: ‘It really didn’t matter whether it was a Big East game or not. It was a win and it was nice.’