Sunday’s 1-0 victory over No. 3 North Carolina could be considered a happy ending to No. 2 Syracuse’s (15-2, 4-2 Atlantic Coast) first ACC season. After all, the Orange beat one of its biggest rivals and basically confirmed itself a top seed in the NCAA tournament, serving as a successful last stand for the senior class, which remained undefeated at J.S. Coyne Stadium.

However, the players don’t see it that way. In their mind, the script won’t be completed until the end of postseason play.

“Yeah, it was our last home game, which is really exciting,” said midfielder Leonie Geyer. “After that, though, you have to win each game to the end, and that’s always the more fun part.”

At the beginning of the season, the Orange was an undeveloped team. Although it returned a number of key upperclassmen, the addition of nine freshmen meant the entire season would involve a learning curve. Syracuse still rattled off six wins to open the campaign, but team chemistry and confidence were clearly lacking.

“I think it might have been a little more difficult just because we started out as such a young team,” midfielder Alyssa Manley said. “With so many new players, we were trying to get into the swing of things, so it was hard in that aspect.”

But after 15 victories, including eight against ranked opponents, SU has reasserted itself as a major contender for the national championship.

“They’ve come so far and grown so much,” head coach Ange Bradley said. “They just keep continuing to surprise me.”

The turning point came once conference play began.

From a chemistry perspective, Geyer said the first ACC game, a 6-3 shellacking at the hands of Boston College, was the jump-start the Orange needed.

“The loss against BC was a defining moment for our team,” she said. “That opened it up for us, that we really have to go for it and work on things to get better.”

They did. Manley said the team’s communication greatly improved and it began to capitalize on more opportunities. SU put together a second six-game winning streak and outscored its opponents 24-5 during that stretch.

Ironically, however, the team’s confidence spiked following the 2-1 defeat against No. 1 Maryland in overtime that ended the hot spell.

“Of course we were annoyed and pissed that we were really that close,” Geyer said of the loss. “At the end though, after watching the video, we did some really good things.”

It didn’t matter that Syracuse lost the lead with only 49 seconds left in the game. The Orange had the best team in the country on the ropes, and knows it could do the same with any future opponent.

“(Maryland’s) program is phenomenal, one of the best out there,” Bradley said. “That was a big morale builder, to compete like that.”

Although the Orange responded with two victories the following weekend, everything finally came together against UNC. The offense maintained a constant attack and the defense thrived under the pressure of a tight game.

Back in early September, the final result might have been different, but the daily grind of playing in the ACC has put Syracuse in position to write whatever ending it desires.

“Our schedule was definitely stronger than last year,” Geyer said. “Consistently playing against really good teams and top-ranked teams the whole year really made us much stronger.”

Published on November 5, 2013 at 12:14 am

Contact Tyler: tfpiccot@syr.edu