A 19th game may never come for Ian McIntyre’s team this season. But until the Syracuse head coach hears differently, he plans on drilling his Syracuse team as if it had another game on its 2012 schedule.

On Monday at 5:30 p.m., the Orange will learn if that 19th game is meant to be. SU lost a chance at an automatic bid when it fell to No. 7 Notre Dame last Saturday, but hopes that its 12 wins are enough to earn an at-large bid in the 48-team field of the NCAA tournament.

A bid would mean that SU — winners of five combined games the previous two seasons of McIntyre’s tenure — would earn its first tournament berth since 1984 and its second-ever in program history.

“I think we showed Saturday night (against Notre Dame) that we’re a good soccer team,” McIntyre said. “I still think there’s some soccer left in us. So we’ll use this time to be together for another week and prepare as best we can.”

Those preparations could be for a game that never happens. Syracuse had the 37th-toughest schedule nationally and a handful of quality wins over teams like Villanova and South Florida in 2012, but that might not be enough.

A weak nonconference schedule could turn NCAA voters away from Syracuse. Of the team’s 10 nonconference opponents this year, only one — Niagara — has a winning record. And Syracuse lost against the Purple Eagles at home by a goal.

SU failed to compensate in its conference schedule, too. The Orange lost close contests to No. 16 Louisville and No. 17 St. John’s, and missed out on more upset chances that could help its tournament resume.

With the loss to Notre Dame still fresh in his mind, goalkeeper Alex Bono still thinks his team is tournament-bound. After all, the Orange held a two-goal lead over the Fighting Irish into the 63rd minute of last weekend’s Big East tournament quarterfinal.

The final 27 minutes didn’t go according to plan. But in its first postseason game since 2005, Bono said his team learned how to handle a “win-or-go-home” mentality that will only help should Syracuse earn an NCAA tournament berth.

“We didn’t know what the postseason felt like — myself included,” said Bono. “But now that we’ve had a taste of what it’s like, we want more.”

McInytre thinks there will be more for his team. Without an opponent on the schedule to prepare for, the head coach said he planned on running his practices “as if it were the preseason.”

Syracuse may not earn a 19th game this year, but if it does, this week’s preseason tempo at practice will keep McIntyre’s players refreshed and focused on the basics that guided them through their surprisingly successful regular season.

That season will end up being Ted Cribley’s last. And the senior team captain can think of no better way to cap it off than by earning an NCAA tournament appearance for the first time in almost 30 years.

“We’ve done so much already that you can’t count us out,” Cribley said. “Look at how close we came against some amazingly talented teams.

“Of course we would’ve helped ourselves by beating Notre Dame, but even in losing I think we showed what we’d bring to the NCAA tournament.”

Published on November 8, 2012 at 12:23 am

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