By the time Syracuse gets to play in the familiar confines of SU Soccer Stadium, the team’s recollection of its home field might be a little fuzzy.

Nearly half of SU’s regular season will have gone by before the first time the Orange plays in front of a home crowd. But Syracuse head coach Phil Wheddon said the month-long slate of road games to start the season can be a good thing.

‘The reason we’re playing these teams on the road is so that when we come to the Big East, we can compete on the road. We’re used to it,’ Wheddon said. ‘It’s not something that’s strange.

‘I’m hoping that it actually has a positive result.’

The Orange (1-2-1, 0-0 Big East) is currently in the midst of an eight-game road trip, one that leaves SU with 10 games to play in the regular season by the time it’s over. The road swing includes this weekend’s five-hour trek to Fairfield, Conn. SU will play in the Fairfield University 20th Anniversary Invitational this weekend. The Orange takes on host Fairfield (1-1-1, 0-0 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference) on Friday and Central Connecticut (1-1-1, 0-0 Northeast Conference) on Sunday.

Junior forward Jenna Rickan voiced the same philosophy as Wheddon. The more road games, the more character it builds when conference games start up. It’s the idea that what you go through now can only make you stronger in the long run.

Even in Syracuse’s final 10 games — beginning with the home opener on Sept. 18 versus Providence — the Orange play five games on the road.

‘It builds adversity for our team,’ Rickan said. ‘Just that we can play in any condition.’

Senior defender Casey Ramirez said that the team has gotten used to being on the road nearly every weekend. Syracuse’s first road trip of the season was the farthest, when the Orange traveled to Florida in mid-August.

‘The easier you get used to it and embrace it, the easier it’ll be,’ said Ramirez.   

While the road tests are ways to prepare the team for a difficult conference schedule ahead, there are still negatives to traveling around the Eastern Seaboard. The most prominent being missing a lot of classes, sophomore Cecilia Borgstrom said.

And by scheduling so many road games in the nonconference schedule, Syracuse is left with an unbalanced slate of games. Thirteen of SU’s 18 games this season are away from its home stadium.

While Borgstrom, a native of Sweden, said she enjoys traveling to different parts of the United States, having more home games still would have been ideal.

‘I wish it was more even,’ she said. ‘Maybe like 10 home games, 10 away games. I know that’s not possible, but it would have been perfect.’

Rickan said that there’s a certain amount of pride that comes with winning on the road, though. Winning on an opponent’s home field is sweeter, she said. That made last week’s tie on the road against a ranked Boston College team feel like a win.

In the past, though, the Orange has not done a consistent job of winning on the road. The last time SU secured a winning record away from SU Soccer Stadium was back in 2003, when the Orange went 6-4.

Since that time, Syracuse has struggled to perform away from home, including the last two years with Wheddon in charge. SU recorded five total victories in those last two seasons.

Regardless of past failures, Wheddon has made it a point since the start of the 2011 campaign to put his squad in rough conditions. It’s all about building toughness heading into Big East play.

Facing adverse conditions could pay off later. At least that’s the plan.

‘It’s put us in a difficult position, but we’ve got to deal with this adversity,’ Wheddon said. ‘That’s what the game’s all about.’

dgproppe@syr.edu

Published on September 7, 2011 at 12:00 pm