The Syracuse women’s soccer team set out last weekend to salvage its season and make a run at the Big East tournament.

Instead, the Orangewomen failed to even score a goal.

They dropped a 2-0 decision Friday at Providence, and a 1-0 decision Sunday at No. 24 Boston College, eliminating the Orangewomen (2-7-2, 0-4-1 Big East) from Big East tournament contention.

‘I hate to lose,’ Syracuse coach April Kater said. ‘I don’t want to get used to it.’

This season marks the first time since 1997 — the team’s second year — that SU will not play in the postseason. Despite Syracuse’s poor record, Kater said she’s proud of the Orangewomen.

‘This is the toughest schedule we’ve ever faced,’ Kater said. ‘We’ve lost more key players and we are hanging tough in every single game we play. We have yet to be really blown out.’

Still, SU’s two wins have come against Robert Morris and Binghamton.

Against BC on Sunday, Kater said the Orangewomen “outplayed and outworked” the Eagles. But the referee missed an apparent handball which led to the game-winning score with 20 seconds left, Kater said. BC outshot Syracuse, 18-6.

‘I’m really proud of the way some of the kids are playing,’ Kater said. ‘We played harder than BC but just did not get the result we hoped for.”

SU expected better results for the whole season. Kater said at the beginning of the year that Syracuse could contend for a Big East title.

But a lack of experienced players has plagued the Orangewomen. Captain Nina Scalzo, last season’s leading scorer, was suspended for the rest of the season. Junior defenders Courtney Spencer and Maureen Tohidi have missed the season with injuries.

The Orangewomen did not practice Monday and players were unavailable for comment.

‘Missing these players completely changed the dynamics of the team,’ Kater said.

A lack of offense is also to blame. The Orangewomen have scored only three goals during their current seven-game winless streak.

The Orangewomen play just one forward, creating few scoring opportunities.

Despite knowing that her team will miss the postseason, Kater still believes Syracuse can find a silver lining. With seven games left, the Orangewomen could still finish with a winning record.

‘Considering the way we started,” Kater said, “a winning record would be awesome.”

Published on October 7, 2002 at 12:00 pm