No. 15 Syracuse hosts Binghamton tonight at 7 in the Carrier Dome. The Orange is 1-2 this season and has an opportunity to work on three specific aspects going into Spring Break:

Help Pardee-Hill:Despite recently being named Big East defensive player of the week, Syracuse goalie Amber Pardee-Hill hasn’t been flawless so far this season. The sophomore walk-on played only five minutes last year and is still learning the position on the job. Pardee-Hill has saved 54.2 percent of shots and is allowing nine goals per game.

Pardee-Hill may yet improve, but until then the defensive unit needs to tighten up to keep Binghamton attackers away from the net. Saturday against Virginia, the Cavaliers either had a good look at the goal or were fouled by a slower Syracuse defender.

The Orange committed 18 fouls Saturday, leading to six free-position shots. Pardee-Hill saved three, but that number of free positions is unacceptable. Syracuse has committed 57 fouls this season to its opponents’ 46.

Senior Chelsea Strodel (nine fouls) and junior Bridget Looney (eight) have combined for 17 fouls. The two defenders are both upperclassmen and need to use their experience to help their inexperienced goalkeeper.

Good FortuneStandout midfielder Gaddy Fortune has been a non-factor through three games this season. After scoring a team-high 47 goals last season, the senior did not score against Dartmouth in the season opener and scored only once against Albany.

Head coach Lisa Miller said last week Fortune’s lack of offensive production was the result of a new role. Unlike last year when Fortune played mostly offense, Miller used her star as a defensive midfielder, seemingly to create transition opportunities.

It hit a new low Saturday when Fortune did not play against Virginia, watching the game from the sideline in her orange warmup shirt. Miller said she benched Fortune for turning the ball over in practice too much. Freshman Eileen Finn started in her place and made one turnover.

Though Syracuse can compensate with Fortune out of the lineup against Binghamton, the Orange needs her production later in the season against other ranked teams. Fortune was supposed to keystone an already explosive offensive unit.

Free-position shotsSyracuse has converted on only 38.9 percent of free-position shots this season (7-of-18). Its opponents scored on 50 percent. Besides leading-scorer Katie Rowan (3-of-5), nobody else has taken advantage of these opportunities with any consistency.

The next four top scorers – Halley Quillinan, Christina Dove, Ashley Pike and Jill DePetris – are a combined 3-for-10 on free positions.

The Orange relies on a fast-paced transition offense, using outlet passes and team speed to create scoring chances. Opposing defenses often cannot keep pace, so they foul Syracuse to keep it from running in front of the net.

Syracuse has an explosive offense and will score its goals, but free-position shots are sometimes the best scoring opportunities against strong defenses. In Saturday’s 10-8 loss to Virginia, the Orange connected on 1-of-3 chances. The Cavaliers have arguably the best defense in the country and Syracuse could have used at least one of those free-position goals.

Published on March 5, 2007 at 12:00 pm