Phil Wheddon wants Syracuse to put it all on the line when the Orange plays St. John’s even though the Big East matchup and regular-season finale for SU means nothing.

Although Syracuse locked up a first-round bye in the Big East tournament after clinching third place in the American division, the SU head coach still expects his team to come out with the same fire it had all season. The Orange might be set in the standings, but Wheddon wants his team to stay hungry for a win in that final contest.

‘Some people would say that gives you some breathing room, some room to relax and everything else,’ Wheddon said. ‘For us, we’re not going to relax. The players have been having an intense week of training. We’re treating this game Friday like it is a play-in for the quarterfinals.’

The Orange (7-6-3, 6-4 Big East) clinched a spot in the Big East tournament for the first time since 2005 after beating South Florida in double overtime Oct. 14. SU enjoyed a four-game conference winning streak earlier in the season, but has lost two of its last three games. The team is looking to stay sharp for the postseason and echoed Wheddon’s expectations for its Friday night matchup with St. John’s (8-8-1, 4-5) in Jamaica, N.Y., at 7 p.m.

Syracuse will then play Georgetown or Louisville, the No. 2 seed from the National Division, in the quarterfinals Oct. 30.

Sophomore goalie Brittany Anghel said the game is still critical to the Orange’s season. SU could build momentum for its quarterfinal matchup if it plays well against the Red Storm.

‘I don’t think the game is meaningless at all,’ Anghel said. ‘I think we have to prepare for the Big East and put ourselves in a good position to maybe even make the NCAA tournament.’

To do that, Wheddon said the team is concentrating on defensive execution, something missing in its last two losses.

The SU backline surrendered a combined nine goals to West Virginia and Marquette. The Orange only allowed 11 combined goals in its 14 other games this season.

In both contests, Syracuse players struggled to mark offensive players in the box.

When Tina Romagnuolo looks back on the goals SU allowed, she considers them foolish letdowns.

‘Obviously, those four goals that Marquette scored were just kind of silly,’ Romagnuolo said. ‘Goals that were our mistakes, so if we just work on that I think we’ll be fine.’

Wheddon said the team wants to keep an eye on players defensively at all times, not just on set pieces. He said that when other teams scout Syracuse, that’s an obvious flaw opponents pick up on.

Anghel, though, thinks the offense is SU’s biggest weakness right now. Though the Orange has shown flashes of scoring ability, Anghel thinks the team needs to find the back of the net sooner in games.

Last weekend, the offense couldn’t get anything going early or late in games. The Orange offense scored just once last weekend, its poorest performance all season in a weekend set.

Wheddon said when the playoffs begin, scoring chances will be limited. That’s why, starting this Friday, it’s important to capitalize on those opportunities, something the Orange has had difficulties with this season.

‘When you get into a playoff situation, often one bounce of the ball is all it takes, so we need to make sure we make the very most of every opportunity that we get,’

Wheddon said.

And Syracuse just doesn’t want to brush up in certain areas, but it wants to finish the regular season with a high note

Wheddon said he doesn’t want to see his team fall in two consecutives matches, especially going into the postseason. For the head coach, a victory on Friday would be ideal for the team.

‘These players have come back from adversity all season long,’ Wheddon said. ‘We’ve been down in games. We’ve been in adverse conditions, so we’ve dealt with it all season. It would just be nicer, a bigger confidence booster, to win on Friday and then go into the Georgetown game having come off a win.’

dgproppe@syr.edu

Published on October 19, 2011 at 12:00 pm