Alexis Koval heaved her arms up in disbelief.

After streaking past her defender in the waning moments of the second half, Koval received a pass in the box and dribbled the ball unguarded toward the goalkeeper. Her defender closed out quickly, though, and hip checked her from behind, sending Koval tumbling to the ground.

But no whistle came. The Syracuse forward pleaded to the referee as the Farleigh Dickinson goalkeeper scooped up the ball and kicked it upfield.

“If we had committed to the game plan and moved the ball a little bit better, we wouldn’t have gotten into these physical, individual battles,” SU head coach Phil Wheddon said. “As a result, it made (the score) much closer than it needed to be.”

Staked with a comfortable two-goal lead at halftime, SU came out of the break playing sloppy, timid soccer. Syracuse’s frustration was evident as the Knights bullied the Orange players and halted the SU scoring attack by forcing choppy ball possession. The Orange tried furiously to close out the Knights in the second half, but found itself bruised and battered by the end of the game. Despite its struggles, SU (4-2) held on for a 2-1 win against Farleigh Dickinson (2-3) in front of 317 at the SU Soccer Stadium on Thursday before losing at Connecticut (4-2) 1-0 on Sunday.

Although Syracuse has compiled its best start since the 2003 season, Wheddon said he was disappointed in the team’s uncharacteristic performance against Farleigh Dickinson.

He admitted that the Orange looked sluggish from the start. Syracuse was unable to execute its signature two-touch passing scheme, and its ball movement suffered as a result.

The Orange showed periodic glimpses of effectiveness and also received a bit of luck in the first half when freshman midfielder Maddie Iozzi scored on a cross that bounced off the post and into the back of the net.

“It was (a cross) at first, but the ball didn’t bend like I wanted it to,” Iozzi said. “It was more like a curveball.”

After a slow start, the Orange picked up the tempo midway through the first half and showed relentless pursuit around the net. In the 28th minute, freshman forward Stephanie Skilton connected with Koval on a give-and-go combination play in the box. Koval fired a shot, but FDU goalkeeper Sage DoVale extended her body and deflected the ball out of play.

On the ensuing corner kick, Koval slid past her defender, found a pocket of space and rose up to head the ball past the right side of the goalie.

The goal was an encouraging sight for Wheddon, who hoped that the Orange could build off its momentum en route to a stronger second-half performance.

But SU didn’t learn from its early mistakes, it reverted back to them.

“The hope was that when we came out in the second half things would be a little bit better,” Wheddon said. “They didn’t get better, they got much worse.”

SU’s mentality changed after the break. The players were stagnant after securing a two-goal lead, and the Knights took advantage, peppering senior goalie Brittany Anghel with five shots in the first 13 minutes of the second half.

At one point, SU assistant coach Nate Bhattacharjee voiced his frustration as he pleaded from the sidelines, “Let’s go white, pick it up,” he yelled. “Pressure the ball.”

The Orange eventually clamped down on defense, but its ball movement continued to struggle because of poor execution. SU tried repeatedly to advance the ball up the field, but each time was unable to control possession for more than a few touches.

“We were hoping to come back strong in the second half,” Iozzi said, “but we didn’t connect our passes as well as we would have liked.”

The lack of possession for Syracuse contributed to the physical play. SU was unable to play like a cohesive unit, and was constantly engaged in physical battle over possession of the ball, which took a harsh toll on the players.

Plain and simple, SU overlooked the Knights in the second half, Wheddon said. And that lack of focus aided in the team’s frustration.

“It’s a wake-up call for us because we can’t underestimate an opponent,” Wheddon said. “But now we know that every game we go into is going to be a battle from the start.”

Published on September 9, 2013 at 12:46 am