When Virginia tied the game at six with 19:19 left in the game, Syracuse midfielder Ashley Pike knew she had to calm down goalie Amber Pardee-Hill. The Cavaliers just capitalized on another botched attempt to clear the ball and the senior sensed the sophomore was pressing.

While Virginia was celebrating and the rest of the Orange was regrouping, Pike ran right over to the net, put her arm around Pardee-Hill’s shoulder and talked to her struggling goalie.

‘I said, ‘Am, look me in the eye right now – we need you,” Pike said. ”I’ll be on the right if you need me for a quick out, but you have to get the ball to us.’ I told her she had to step up.’

Pike’s words came too late, though, and Syracuse could not solve its sloppiness in time. Poor fundamentals on both sides of the ball cost the Syracuse women’s lacrosse team in its 10-8 loss to No. 9 Virginia Saturday. By failing to make clears, committing silly fouls and making turnovers, the No. 15 Orange allowed Virginia easy scoring chances and ultimately buried itself.

In only her third-career start, Pardee-Hill struggled to find teammates and create transition opportunities – something Syracuse’s offense thrives on. The Orange failed to convert on 8-of-14 clears, including key chances in the second half leading to Cavalier goals.

A combination of a smothering Virginia defense and risky pass attempts downfield by Pardee-Hill contributed to Syracuse’s deficiencies. The Cavaliers boast one of the best defenses in the country – it allowed only 12 shots on goal in its first two games – and Pardee-Hill lacks experience after playing just five minutes last season.

Though the Orange’s goalkeeper did save a career-high of 13 shots, her mistakes were part of the overall sloppiness that plagued Syracuse throughout the game.

‘It’s really about the fundamentals and little things for me,’ Pardee-Hill said. ‘I just couldn’t get the ball out. I couldn’t see my teammates today.’

Clears were not the only problem. Pardee-Hill handled the ball so much because Syracuse’s defense could not keep Virginia away from the net without holding or interfering.

Virginia head coach Julie Myers said her team sprints 100 yards for every foul it commits during practice. If Syracuse used that system after Saturday’s performance, it would have to run 1,800 yards – a football field for each of the Orange’s 18 fouls.

The defensive lapses led to six free-position shots for Virginia, three of which resulted in goals. One of those came with 15 seconds left in the first half with the game tied at four. Virginia’s Kate Breslin connected to give her team its first lead going into halftime. The Cavaliers committed only eight fouls.

‘I thought we were playing solid defense and some of the fouls were questionable,’ said Syracuse head coach Lisa Miller, who was visibly upset on the sideline after several calls. ‘We played a zone. I didn’t think we were too sloppy.’

Syracuse could have survived the poor clears and excessive fouls if not for turnovers on the offensive side. The Orange earned enough possessions to win because of its 11-9 advantage in draw controls, but squandered the opportunities with 15 turnovers, including 10 in the first half.

After jumping to quick 2-0 and 4-2 leads in the first 10 minutes of the game, Syracuse started making bad passes and fumbling the ball consistently. Virginia controlled the ball for almost the rest of the first half – a span of 19 minutes.

‘This is something we’ve been working on all year,’ Miller said. ‘We turn the ball over too much in practice, we bobble ground balls too much in practice, we throw the ball away on the clears too much in practice. If we can fix it, we can be a top-eight team.’

Published on March 4, 2007 at 12:00 pm