Syracuse junior Richard Asante was taken down hard last week in a 1-0 loss to St. John’s. After jogging off the field briefly, the undersized midfielder proceeded to do a bit of tackling of his own, dropping a Red Storm player to the grass.

Though SU head coach Dean Foti says his team must win soccer games, not wrestling matches, he couldn’t help but smile at the toughness of his team.

‘Richie is like 5-foot-3, but he also dishes out some punishment,’ Foti said. ‘The hit he put on the guy against St. John’s, that’s one of the hardest tackles I’ve seen all season.’

The Orange soccer team has six games remaining on its schedule – four of them in the Big East – starting with a non-conference match tonight at 7 p.m. against Oneonta State at Syracuse Soccer Stadium.

The Orange is playing its best soccer of the season. Last week, the Orange played St. John’s tough, losing 1-0 to the No. 5 team in the country. SU rebounded with a 1-0 upset of No. 22 South Florida, which was undefeated in the Big East to that point. Foti credits his team’s defense but knows his offense has to shape up in order to make a playoff run.

‘We have to continue to defend well in not allowing more than a goal,’ Foti said. ‘Then it comes down to the other end of the field. We do well controlling the ball and keeping possession but that has to translate into scoring opportunities and that has to translate into goals.’

SU’s forwards are a young group, but some upperclassmen are confident that just competing with teams of St. John’s caliber will eventually translate into wins.

‘(A win over St. John’s) would’ve helped a lot but the difference is just one play really,’ senior defender Pat Gallagher said. ‘It’s difficult to beat teams like that but I’m confident in my guys that we’ll get the lucky bounces and things will start going our way.’

Gallagher tells the young guys to get into the training room often and to stay motivated during training sessions, he said. Senior midfielder Mike McCallion said he feels the team just needs to keep its excitement at the start of games at a time when it could be in a lull.

Gallagher and McCallion are never in a lull during a game, mixing it up with the opposition despite regularly giving up size. Gallagher says he tries to use his speed to avoid those situations and work on getting rid of the ball faster. McCallion is a bit more involved, even when it’s not the first option.

‘I try to stay out of things as much as possible, stay under the radar so you don’t get hit as much,’ McCallion joked. ‘But sometimes it’s hard in the heat of the game. Sometimes you can’t control it. Never with malice but you just gotta buy some time. It’s gamesmanship.’

McCallion is a player Foti will depend on during this stretch run. He wants McCallion to be more selfish inside 30 yards and look for his shot. More importantly, Foti wants the same effort his team shows on 50/50 balls and defense exerted on the offensive end. Second chance opportunities would help goalkeeper Rob Cavicchia, who lets in less than a goal per game.

‘Good shots can turn into a goal if a (goalie) saves it but you have someone there to knock it in,’ Foti said. ‘I don’t feel we get the easy ones because we’re not active enough. With the way we’re defending, all you need is one goal.’

Published on October 11, 2005 at 12:00 pm