To start the 2014 campaign, Syracuse’s defense had a different look to it.

For the majority of last season, head coach Ian McIntyre played with a four-defender formation. But on Friday afternoon, the Orange’s defense featured just three on the back line against Niagara and only one defender was a returning starter.

With Skylar Thomas suspended after receiving a red card in last year’s finale and Chris Makowski  out for an undisclosed reason, Jordan Murrell played alongside Akron transfer Louis Cross and Tyler Hilliard. Friday’s 3-0 win showed McIntyre that the new formation can thrive regardless of personnel both on the offensive and defensive ends and that he’s not restricted to the same lineup going into Sunday’s tilt with St. Mary’s (Calif.) at 7 p.m. at SU Soccer Stadium.

“We’ve got some options,” McIntyre said of his back line. “But so far it’s worked well and it’s allowed us to kind of impose our passing on the game.”

Against the Purple Eagles, McIntyre’s new 3-5-2 formation helped Syracuse dominate possession, as its extra-man advantage in the midfield – Niagara played a 4-4-2 – allowed the Orange to keep the ball for long stretches of time.

Juuso Pasanen and Julian Buescher frequently and successfully advanced the ball forwards as the four Niagara midfielders were constantly chasing, outnumbered in midfield.

Often times, they fed outside midfielders Liam Callahan and Korab Syla, who were given more freedom on the wings to run down through balls toward the end lines.

“We’re a transition team,” Callahan said. “If we put the ball in behind, we have extra people forward and it gives us a nice opportunity to score.”

If Callahan or Syla weren’t chasing balls played ahead of them, it was Noah Rhynhart or Emil Ekblom receiving the ball at their feet with their back to the goal in the attacking third.

Either way, despite the afternoon field conditions, the Orange was able to control the tempo of the game.

“Our ball movement, the pitch was a little bit sticky,” McIntyre said. “Under the lights (at night), the ball zips around a little bit. You get that moisture. But that’s going to get better.”

On the defensive side, Cross was vocal in the middle of the three and he consistently rose up to win headers against 6-foot-6 Niagara forward Callum Willmott. Murrell and Hilliard repeatedly stripped the Purple Eagles’ forwards, advancing and distributing cleanly out of the back.

Although Hilliard is coming off an injury-plagued season and Cross was playing his first regular-season game for SU, the new-look back line flourished.

“They’re both very experienced, so they’ve done well for themselves,” Murrell said of Hilliard and Cross. “Looking forward, having three in the back, putting the ball a bit more forward is always good for the boys up front.”

And with Thomas eligible on Sunday and Makowski always a threat to log minutes, McIntyre’s defense suddenly has some depth.

The head coach could replace one of the defenders who helped the Orange shut down Niagara, add one of the 2013 starters and revert to a four-man back line or stick with the three-man setup.

Syracuse has more capable players than positions on the back line and the head coach smiled as he described his convenient tactical dilemma.

Said McIntyre: “You like headaches as coaches, right?”

Published on August 30, 2014 at 2:53 pm

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