The Syracuse men’s soccer team has spent the entire season wondering which version will show up.

On occasions like last Saturday against No. 14 Rutgers and Sept. 18 against Loyola, the Orangemen have looked like world-beaters. But on other days, they’ve looked beaten.

If Syracuse (7-5-1, 3-3 Big East) is concerned about which team will appear tonight at 7 against No. 15 Boston College (7-3, 4-2) at Syracuse Soccer Stadium, it might have to look no further than the most recent NSCAA Top 25 poll.

Saturday’s win over Rutgers continued a baffling trend. The Orangemen have a habit of coming out motivated for ranked opponents while flopping against less-talented competition.

‘Our warm-up was a little more intense (against Rutgers),’ sophomore Ryan Hickey said. “(Rutgers) couldn’t have come at a better time — a ranked team in front of a big crowd. It was the perfect time.’

‘The whole atmosphere was good,’ captain Chris Aloisi said of Saturday’s win, which came in front of a season-high 772 fans. ‘You hope that doesn’t have to do with anything. You hope you can get up for every game, but everything came together — big crowd, big game, ranked team — everything.’

Since the beginning of last season, the Orangemen have gone 2-2 against ranked opponents while barely doing as well — 12-11-2 — against non-ranked foes.

Last year, after a loss to Virginia Tech dampened its postseason hopes, Syracuse upset then-No. 8 Rutgers.

The upset allowed the Orangemen to control their own destiny entering the final conference game, which they lost, 2-1, to Notre Dame.

With this year’s win over Rutgers, the Orangemen positioned themselves similarly to last year, joining a three-way tie for seventh place.

‘It’s starting to look that way again,’ Hickey said.

And if the Syracuse defense needs motivation beyond the rankings, Eagles forward Casey Schmidt ought to provide it.

Schmidt, a senior, was the conference’s offensive player of the year in 2000, and coaches predicted he would win the award during the past two preseasons. He torched the Orangemen for two goals in their season opener last year and currently ranks fifth in the conference with six.

Last year Schmidt was leading the conference in points when he collided with a Harvard goaltender while attempting to reach a head ball. The collision broke a pair of bones around Schmidt’s eye.

Despite missing time, Schmidt earned All-Big East third-team honors. Schmidt sat out nine games with a concussion also sustained in the collision. He returned out of shape, both mentally and physically.

‘I think it was a bad idea coming back so early,’ Schmidt said. ‘It was a pretty traumatic experience. I was out of shape and couldn’t do the things I wanted. Even now, it still creeps into my head, but I can’t give up on a possible goal.’

The injury forced Schmidt into a plastic facemask and a Cape Cod summer league, where he worked off the weight he gained while sitting out.

Syracuse head coach Dean Foti said he was unsure how the Orangemen would defend Schmidt. Both Foti and Schmidt agreed that Schmidt’s most dangerous attribute is his speed.

‘He’s got a tremendous work rate,’ Foti said. ‘He’s tirelessly looking to get in behind you. He picks his spots where he uses his speed.’

The Orangemen have been using a four-man defensive backfield, in which opposing forwards are passed from defender to defender. That strategy, while allotting an extra man for the defensive end, could create mismatches for Schmidt.

Foti said he was considering reverting back to a three-man defense in which one defender would shadow Schmidt the entire game.

‘He can finish anything he gets,’ Aloisi said. ‘With the (four defenders), we’re passing guys around a lot, so no one person will be guarding him the whole game. With that formation we have to make sure we’re aware of him.’

Published on October 15, 2002 at 12:00 pm