In the Big East’s first 14 years of existence, no men’s soccer team reached an NCAA final.

But since 1996, Big East schools have reached the title game twice, winning a pair of College Cups.

After watching teams like St. Louis, Virginia and Indiana gobble up titles for nearly 40 years, the Big East has begun to assert itself as one of the nation’s premier soccer conferences.

‘It’s without a question at the top,’ Notre Dame coach Bobby Clark said of the Big East. ‘I’m biased, but I coached in the Pac-10 (at Stanford). This is certainly better than that.’

When Syracuse (5-4, 1-2 Big East) meets Villanova (2-8, 0-4) today at 7 p.m. at the Syracuse Soccer Stadium, it’s the second consecutive conference match in a string of eight conference games in the final 10 appearances.

Among the Orangemen’s final nine opponents are four ranked foes, all of whom made the NCAA Tournament last year. The Big East placed more teams (six) in the 2001 tourney and currently holds more positions (five) in the NSCAA Top 25 than any other conference.

Since 1996, when St. John’s won the conference’s first national title, the Big East has cemented a reputation that places it firmly among the top two conferences in the nation.

‘It’s got to be first or second,’ said defender Chris Fehrle, who played a year at Syracuse, transferred to Virginia, and is currently sitting out a year after transferring back to SU. ‘I should know. I’ve played in both (the ACC and Big East).’

Stanford coach Bret Simon said only the ACC can rival the Big East’s domination. While Virginia — from which Claudio Reyna, the U.S. captain at the World Cup earlier this year, graduated — and Clemson are established dynasties, the Big East appears to be creating a prominent pair of its own.

St. John’s is currently the No. 1 team in the country and advanced to the Final Four last year. Connecticut, currently No. 7, won a national championship two years ago and has been the preseason pick to win the conference each year since.

‘A lot of people assume the ACC’s the best,’ Simon said. ‘But it really fluctuates year to year. The Big East is deep and big, and their top three can match up with anybody.’

As the league continues ascending, Clark has noticed a difference in playing styles. While Big East battles were traditionally pocked with shoving, tripping, shirt twisting and shorts-tugging, teams are now beginning to play with more finesse and skill.

‘I don’t think it’s that physical at all,’ Clark said. ‘It’s very technical at this point.’

The Orangemen appear fortunate that the talent pool runs deep. Their schedule leaves the conference’s perennial powers until season’s end, affording the Orangemen an opportunity to erase the mediocre impression they’ve formed in the nine games since starting the season ranked No. 23.

A poor start — including losses in their first two non-conference games, and an embarrassing 3-0 thrashing at the hands of conference-doormat Providence last Saturday — has left critics unimpressed. Syracuse currently ranks sixth in the NSCAA New York regional poll.

‘Where we are right now, we need to beat good teams,’ senior Guido Cristofori said. ‘Beating crappy teams doesn’t do anything for us.’

While the Big East has more teams in the Top 25 than the ACC, it has a lower percentage of ranked squads. In the ACC, four of seven teams hold national rankings compared to five of 14 Big East teams.

That’s because Big East teams can fatten their records on the bottom-feeders, while ACC teams rarely see a break from the parade of Top-25 opponents.

Big East coaches, though, insist the wide array of opponents offers its own challenges.

Clark said the Big East serves a smorgasbord of styles. While teams like Georgetown aim to attack instantly, St. John’s will wait, threading the ball in and out of its opponent’s half.

‘If you take it by percentage, five (ranked teams) of seven is pretty unbelievable,’ Clarke said. ‘I can’t speak for the (ACC). They might be the best, but this conference is very difficult. There are no easy games.”

Still, Villanova, SU’s opponent tonight, fits aside Providence into the conference’s lower-class caste. The Wildcats are one of two squads winless in conference play and have been throttled in the majority of their contests.

‘We didn’t show up to play (in a season-opening, 1-0 loss to Virginia Commonwealth),’ Syracuse coach Dean Foti said. ‘We didn’t show up for Georgetown (on Sept. 7), and we got lucky to come back and win (3-2 in overtime). There’s no one on the schedule we can show up and not be ready to play.’

Published on October 1, 2002 at 12:00 pm