As the seconds ticked away in the closing moments of the Syracuse men's soccer game Sunday, senior forward Tom Perevegyencev shook his head in frustration and disbelief. It was another game, more missed scoring opportunities.
For the crowd of 1,128 at SU Soccer Stadium, the scene was all too familiar.
"We just need to score one goal," Perevegyencev said. "I think that will change the whole thing. …Everyone's had a lot of chances. We just need to put them away. We're possessing the ball pretty well, we're attacking pretty well, but we're just not finishing our chances, and that's what's bothering us."
The game - a 2-0 loss to Big East rival Georgetown - marked the third time in four games the Orange (1-6) failed to find the back of the net. It's a trend that will need to stop if SU hopes to stay afloat in the deep Big East.
Syracuse also dropped a 3-1 contest to Seton Hall (4-2-1) at home Friday.
The two weekend losses extended SU's losing streak to five games, and further exposed an inability to generate production from its offense.
The Orange out-shot the Hoyas, 13-11, but simply could not put any of those opportunities into the back of the net. It was the third time this season that SU has out-shot its opponent and still came up on the losing end of the scoreboard at the end of the game.
SU found its first scoring opportunity of the match when Perevegyencev found senior midfielder Hansen Woodruff open with Georgetown goalkeeper Matthew Brutto out of position. Fortunately for the Hoyas, Brutto was bailed out by a Hoya defender who stepped in and cleared the ball, preventing SU from taking the early advantage.
It was the first of many missed scoring opportunities for the Orange.
Breaking a scoreless game at the 32:42 mark of the first half, Georgetown forward Uche Onyeador scored through a crowd of defenders, giving the Hoyas the 1-0 advantage. It was the same old story for the Orange, who has allowed the game's first goal its last four contests.
Trailing 1-0 at the half, the Orange had multiple opportunities to bring the game to a tie. Led by senior midfielder Kenny Caceros - who took four shots in the match - SU controlled the ball and penetrated the Georgetown defense a number of times in the second half.
But Brutto prevented any of those opportunities from producing points, holding the Orange scoreless with six saves, completing his third shutout of the season. Georgetown has only allowed four goals in its seven games so far this season.
"Once we score a goal, it changes the whole game," Perevegyencev said. "So if we would have scored a goal, I think we would have been more attentive. We would have been really excited to play, and we would've had more energy and would go in there and try to score another one. We wouldn't just stop and let them attack us."
With Brutto keeping the SU offense at bay, Georgetown struck again. Hoyas midfielder Andy Riemer forced a turnover deep in SU territory and scored on a one-on-one breakaway in the 79th minute, to putting the Hoyas ahead, 2-0, to seal the Georgetown victory.
The Orange has now been shut-out in three of its last four games, scoring only once during that four-game stretch.
It isn't as if scoring opportunities haven't been there, either. The Orange leads the conference in shot attempts (14.86) through the first seven games.
"The games we've lost, it's not like were being blown out," Woodruff said. "We've had chances, and unfortunately we're not scoring and other people are."
Orange head coach Dean Foti downplayed the significance of the offensive futility, saying that as long as the offense is generating opportunities, the Orange will continue to approach every game with the same game plan and mentality.
Foti isn't hitting the panic button just yet.
"We're getting chances," Foti said. "We're getting really good chances. …We're getting good shots. We're getting (some) good looks, we're getting good opportunities to score goals. The only thing that's left to do is put them in."
"Again, we've gotten scoring chances. At some point, we've got to finish them off if we're going to win games."
aljohn@syr.edu
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