After last Friday’s game against Villanova, Syracuse field hockey head coach Kathleen Parker said her team had given its best effort of the year. Unfortunately for the Orangewomen, that effort wasn’t good enough to earn a win. The Orangewomen lost to the Wildcats, 2-1.

That loss dropped Syracuse to 0-3 in the Big East conference, the first time SU has ever been winless after three conference games. Now, after the critical loss to Villanova, the Orangewomen find themselves in a desperate situation in today’s game at Providence at 3 p.m. SU also plays at Dartmouth on Sunday at 1 p.m.

It’s simple really – win today, and the Orangewomen still have a shot at the Big East tournament. Lose, and play out the remaining schedule with no hopes of postseason play.

‘Years ago, we never talked about anybody’s record,’ Parker said last week. ‘Now the Net makes access to other teams’ records so easy that you can’t keep it from the team. We still never talk about our record or anyone else’s.’

Four of the six Big East teams advance to the tournament, and the Orangewomen currently sit in last place. To sneak into the tournament they must defeat Providence and Connecticut at home on Oct. 26. Then SU must hope that the Huskies lose one of their other two Big East games.

Although Parker has preached to her team to stay relaxed, that may be hard to do this afternoon. After 14 straight Big East tournament appearances, and two years removed from an NCAA Tournament appearance, the season has been a disappointment so far.

Fortunately for SU (4-8), Providence has struggled this year, too. The Friars (8-7) stand at 0-2 in the conference and are also on the brink of elimination. Syracuse and Providence have always played close games – the last four meetings have been decided by one goal. The Orangewomen hold a recent advantage, taking five of the last six meetings against the Friars.

One key to success may be the play of forward Ann-Marie Guglieri. The senior has made significant contributions of late, tallying two goals and four assists in the Orangewomen’s last three games.

On penalty corners, Guglieri has the role of stopping the ball off after the initial insertion. Her clean setups have been key for SU, leading to three goals off corners in the last three games.

‘We’ve always had pretty good corners,’ Guglieri said after an Oct. 3 win over Massachusetts. ‘I think we’re just off on a couple of things. I think both (Joanne Lombard) and Michelle Sola had awesome strokes all day .’

For the Orangewomen to have any chance today, they must have greater success finding the back of the cage – something that has been problematic for SU in Big East play. Syracuse has scored only two goals in its three league losses. Parker claims that stat is overrated.

‘Honestly, it’s the media that keeps track of all that stuff,’ Parker said ‘It never crosses our mind. I have no idea. I don’t even know what the scores of the games are once they’re over.

‘We’re really spending the second half of this season really trying to get our minds going along the lines of what really is important and that’s the little things you’re doing out on the field. Not statistics. Statistics, boy, you can get caught up in statistics and that’s when you really get bogged down. I don’t think athletes pay nearly as much attention to statistics as the media does.’

Published on October 16, 2003 at 12:00 pm