Ed Kelly was nervous.

After the Boston College men’s soccer coach watched early in yesterday’s 3-1 victory over Syracuse, he saw as many back-heel and one-touch passes as he had in a game all season.

At halftime, he wondered how to stop SU’s forward trio of Kirk Johnson, Jarett Park and Guido Cristofori from moving the ball so quickly for the next 45 minutes.

“Those three are more than a handful,” Kelly said. “They had some amazing combination plays.”

Fortunately for Kelly, his worries ended early in the second half.

Park suffered a bruised quadriceps and playmaking midfielder Ryan Hickey injured his hip, slowing the SU attack.

Park went down five minutes into the second half. He lay on the ground waiting for a trainer, then limped off. Upon arriving at the sideline, Park slipped on his warmup suit.

“You know it has to be something serious when he leaves the game,” Cristofori said. “He never leaves. It has to be a hit-and-a-half.”

After a quick stretch with the trainer, Park began jogging in place. Twenty minutes later, he re-entered the game. But he never dominated like he did in the first half.

Teammates said Park sustained a bruised quadriceps. He spent 40 minutes after the game receiving treatment.

“We’ve really gelled this year,” Cristofori said of the three forwards. “Any time you spread us apart, it takes a little bit out of our offense.”

Hickey, a sophomore who sat out last year because of an injury, went down in the first half. He has had trouble warming up in the Syracuse weather the past two games.

After two surgeries — last September and February — to repair hip injuries, Hickey’s found staying loose tough.

He underwent the surgeries to repair labral tears in his right and left hips. During the year-long rehabilitation, his leg muscles withered.

“The injury is really rare,” Hickey said. “One (hip tear) is rare, two is nearly unheard of. I’ve got the same wear and tear and knocks as the other guys. But it’s a little tougher on me because I don’t have the leg strength.”

Hickey had played 60 to 70 minutes per game throughout the year but played 110 minutes in a double-overtime game against Army on Oct. 8. His legs haven’t recovered.

“When my legs aren’t in great shape,” Hickey said, “I’m more of a liability to the team than anything.”

Because of Hickey’s struggles, Syracuse head coach Dean Foti replaced him with Jorge Rodriguez. While Rodriguez controlled the ball well, Foti needed a physical presence the 5-foot-7 freshman couldn’t provide.

“We were getting beat in the middle of the field,” Foti said. “We had to do something to change that.”

So Foti moved his biggest forward, Cristofori, to midfield, replacing him at forward with freshmen Rob Alexander and Jeff Evans.

Although most of the Orangemen downplayed the importance of the injuries, the offense failed to convert many chances. Cristofori, who led Syracuse with five shots, was forced to dribble his way to the front, often meeting three or four Eagles in the process.

While Alexander and Evans played well and created scoring opportunities, the pair put only two shots on goal, barely misconnecting on a number of chances inside the BC box.

“Alexander and Evans did a solid job for us,” captain Chris Aloisi said. “We have a deep enough bench. But Park is a big part of this team. Any time you lose a guy like that it’ll hurt.”

Published on October 23, 2002 at 12:00 pm