Aaron Bonser waited more than three years to truly believe the Syracuse men’s soccer team could play with the rest of the Big East. Walking off the Syracuse Soccer Stadium field Sunday after battling fifth-ranked West Virginia for almost 107 minutes, the senior defenseman finally had the chance to say it.

‘Patience,’ Bonser said. ‘A lot of players would fall out with the way things have gone. We’ve been unfortunate in this program. But we’re turning it around. We’re making changes, winning games, so we’re definitely making steps in the right direction.’

It wasn’t a perfect weekend for SU – the Mountaineers’ Paul Paradise crushed those hopes with a devastating golden goal. But in three days, the Orange sent a message to the rest of the Big East that a trip to Syracuse is no longer a cakewalk.

With a 2-0 victory over Pittsburgh on Friday and 1-0 double overtime loss to West Virginia on Sunday, the Orange perhaps suggested it’s ready to seriously compete in one of the nation’s toughest conferences for the first time in more than 20 years.

Now, it has to live up to the high expectations.

‘It shows we have a lot of character,’ Bonser said. ‘To go out and take care of Pitt, which is a difficult team to play against, and come out here and play a soccer game against WVU, shows a lot of character. They’re top in the country, and we definitely can play with them.’

Syracuse dominated Pittsburgh on Friday from the opening kick to the final buzzer. The Panthers managed only 10 shots to the Orange’s 15 and had few legitimate scoring threats. One goal from sophomore forward Hansen Woodruff would’ve sufficed. He scored two.

After the game, junior forward Spencer Schomaker stressed the importance of the Pitt game heading into the much-anticipated matchup with West Virginia.

The match did not disappoint, pitting two defensive-minded squads for almost the maximum 110 minutes. In its six games before Sunday, WVU had allowed just two goals to SU’s four.

Syracuse squandered several scoring chances throughout the game and was three minutes away from earning another draw. Paradise’s game-winner shocked the Orange and silenced the crowd of 1,010 rowdy fans.

Nevertheless, the loss made an important statement: Syracuse can handle a top-10 opponent.

‘All I know is I think we’re one of the best teams in the Big East, and I hope it pans out that way,’ Syracuse head coach Dean Foti said. ‘I hope our results would bear that out.’

In Foti’s 17-year career, Syracuse has limped to a 55-90-17 record against conference opponents, a .339 winning percentage. Under Foti, the Orange has reached the Big East tournament just five times, and it hasn’t won a tournament game since 1999.

Entering Friday’s game against Pitt, SU seemed poised to begin adding to that conference win column. Its 3-0-3 record through six games marked Syracuse’s best start since 1986 when former coach Tim Hankinson’s Orangemen went seven straight without a loss.

Until beginning conference play, though, nobody knew if the beginning of the season was real or an aberration. Including West Virginia, the Big East boasts four squads in the top 25: No. 2 Connecticut, No. 4 Notre Dame and No. 17 South Florida.

The only ranked team Syracuse faced before West Virginia was No. 19 Ohio State – a scoreless draw on Sep. 2.

‘We played some good teams in the Big Ten, but the Big East is a tough conference,’ sophomore defenseman Pete Hill said. ‘You never know quite where you stand until you start that. … It was definitely a good test for us, and we know where we stand, pretty much, and we have a lot of confidence.’

With that confidence, Syracuse now has the challenge of bouncing back from a tough loss. The Orange has shown to be formidable but hasn’t yet gotten over the hump to beat one of the Big East’s best.

But Hill isn’t concerned. In fact, he’s looking beyond one little conference.

‘We have the potential,’ Hill said. ‘On any given day, we can get a result, home or away, with any team in the nation.’

Published on September 23, 2007 at 12:00 pm