Captain Chris Aloisi and senior Ryan Hall have rarely been pleased with a Syracuse men’s soccer performance.

Their mouths have spilled words of bewilderment, annoyance and disbelief after an up-and-down opening to the season. Almost as surprising as Syracuse’s inconsistencies were its reactions after a 3-1 loss at Seton Hall on Saturday.

“We played well,” Hall said. “The score doesn’t reflect the game. It was a step in the right direction, but it makes it that much more frustrating that we didn’t win.”

“We played decent,” Aloisi said. “Seton Hall’s a tough place to play. I feel like the last couple of games we’ve come out early and been on our game.”

Despite having a four-game win streak — mostly against mediocre foes — snapped Saturday, the Orangemen (4-3, 1-1) spoke of playing one of their most complete games.

Syracuse head coach Dean Foti said the Orangemen matched Seton Hall chance-for-chance and nearly earned an opportunity to pull off a second straight upset, following a defeat of Loyola.

The Pirates, who have been ranked as high as No. 6 in the NSCAA Top 25 and currently sit at No. 3 in the Middle Atlantic region, led the game, 2-1, entering the final three minutes.

With the Orangemen sending their entire lineup forward in an effort to tie, the Pirates tallied their third goal, making the score misleading.

Still, Syracuse continues to let chances waste away. In the beginning of the year, Syracuse let games slip away with poor play. Now, its letting them slide past because of subpar finishes.

Shooting problems have plagued Syracuse all season. While the three-pronged forward attack of Kirk Johnson, Guido Cristofori and Jarett Park has gelled with midfielders to create scoring chances, SU’s opportunities have yet to manifest themselves on the scoreboard.

Foti said the Orangemen tend to make poor decisions when they approach the opponent’s net.

“We talk about how to finish a chance,” Foti said. “Should you hit it 100 miles an hour and risk it going over the bar or tap it inside the post? Sometimes our judgment is cloudy. It needs to be clearer.”

While the Orangemen failed to finish their chances, Foti said the defense failed to inhibit Seton Hall. The Pirates outshot Syracuse, 26-12, and put 12 attempts on net, compared to four for the Orangemen.

Monday’s practice was filled with marking drills, forcing SU’s defenders to work on closer coverage. Seton Hall split the Syracuse defense for two of its goals, giving forwards Phil Swenda and Mark Pedreiras one-on-one opportunities against goaltender Alim Karim.

“The first goal was a bad decision by me,” said Aloisi, normally Syracuse’s most reliable defender. “I should have dropped back. Second goal, same thing. I should have dropped back, and then they got a breakaway. But we still had our chances to tie it up.”

“You’ve got to finish your chances,” Foti said. “They did. We didn’t. That’s the one stat that counts.”

Published on September 23, 2002 at 12:00 pm