For the first half of the Orangewomen’s field hockey game against Connecticut on Sunday, they played with a sense of urgency. SU played like a loss would eliminate it from postseason play. Most of the Orangewomen didn’t know SU was already out of contention

Still, despite outplaying the No. 11 Huskies in the first 35 minutes, the Orangewomen trailed, 2-1. Then, in the second half, that sense of urgency seemingly disappeared, along with Syracuse’s offensive attack.

The halftime score never changed, as UConn defeated the Orangewomen, 2-1. This year will mark the first time SU will not appear in the Big East tournament since the championship event was created 14 years ago.

‘There are games when I wish we didn’t have halftime because it gives the other team time to adjust,’ SU head coach Kathleen Parker said. ‘We were playing with some adrenaline, and then that 10 minutes was enough time for (UConn) to calm down a little bit. I thought we came back out a step slower.’

Parker said she didn’t think that most of her players were aware of it, but the Orangewomen (6-10, 1-4 Big East) were actually eliminated from postseason play before the game even started. On Friday, Boston College defeated Rutgers, 3-1. That loss dropped Rutgers to 2-3 in league play.

Most players were under the impression that if SU had defeated the Huskies (13-4, 3-1) yesterday, and UConn then fell to Providence next Saturday, the Orangewomen would make the tournament. If this had occurred, Connecticut, Rutgers and Syracuse would have all tied for the two remaining tourney births at 2-3.

The three teams would then have theoretically been placed into a three-team mini-conference. UConn would have won the first tie-breaker because of its win over Villanova, the Big East’s top team. Rutgers would have gotten the final berth because of its 1-0 victory over the Orangewomen on Sept. 20.

But even though Syracuse wasn’t officially eliminated until Friday, the players knew that making the tournament would be a tough climb, and had, for the most part, stopped worrying about qualifying.

‘We’ve known for a while that our chances of making the tournament were slim,’ goalie Betsy Wagner said. ‘We’ve just been trying to build some momentum for next season.’

On the field Sunday, Wagner was one of the main factors that kept the Orangewomen in the game. The Huskies struck first when the Big East’s leading scorer, Lauren Henderson, blasted home a direct corner with 23:18 remaining in the first half. Parker said that the goal came too easily, as the ball hit the top of Wagner’s pad and landed in the back of the net. From that point forward, Wagner served as a nearly unbreakable wall.

Just 2:38 later, the Orangewomen responded as Ann-Marie Guglieri – who earlier was acknowledged at SU Senior Day ceremonies – received an Ashley Fry crossing pass and spun around to beat UConn goalie Maureen Butler.

‘To come that quick and score, gave us renewed life,’ Parker said. ‘We haven’t been scoring a lot of goals from the field. Most of our scoring has come from penalty corners, so it was nice to see someone score from the field.’

As the half continued, the play remained mostly on the UConn side of the field, giving SU several scoring opportunities. But the Orangewomen couldn’t penetrate Butler, who gives up a Big East-leading 1.05 goals per game.

The offensive futility left the door open for UConn, and Henderson delivered the winning tally with 1:27 remaining in the half. In the second half, Wagner made several diving saves off of UConn corner attempts, but the Orangewomen could muster no offense.

‘I don’t think we cooled off in the second half,’ Guglieri said. ‘They capitalized on their opportunities and we didn’t do a good job with that.’

Now, the Orangewomen look to focus on their two remaining games – against Cornell at home on Wednesday and at Northwestern next Sunday. They must do so knowing that they will not make the postseason for the first time under Parker.

Now, Syracuse is left to think about what could have been. Three of SU’s four league losses were by one goal. Parker believes that an Oct. 10, 2-1 loss to Villanova and yesterday’s loss to the Huskies may have been two of the Orangewomen’s best efforts of the season. It only added to the frustration.

‘I come away from this game more frustrated at the games that we went out flat and played lackadaisically against teams that, had we played at today’s level, we would have beaten hands down,’ Parker said. ‘Sometimes one-goal games are games of luck.

‘The frustration comes back from looking at other games and thinking that if we had played like this, we could be (10-6) instead of (6-10).’

Published on October 26, 2003 at 12:00 pm