Usually after a Sunday game, the Syracuse men’s soccer team has Monday off to rest and prepare for the week ahead. In the postgame huddle after another disappointing loss to Rutgers this weekend, SU head coach Dean Foti realized what the squad usually does wasn’t working.

So the bus ride home from Piscataway, N.J., on Sunday night wasn’t the beginning of a relaxation period. Instead, it was a quick break before something quite unusual for a Monday: an emergency practice, not a day off.

Syracuse (4-4-3, 1-4 Big East) lost to Rutgers (4-6-1, 3-3) on Sunday, 2-1, marking the fourth-straight loss for the Orange, all against Big East opponents. During that stretch, Syracuse’s vaunted defense has allowed seven goals, compared to three in the team’s first seven matches.

‘If you take a day off, the problem’s out of mind,’ Foti said. ‘Out of sight, out of mind. They won’t think about it for a couple days, and then we come back and address it, it’s not quite as urgent. It’s something we wanted to make sure people knew was important.’

For the first time in weeks, the surprise practice focused mostly on the defensive unit, working on both individual and collective marking assignments. In the beginning of the season, the Orange relied on a rock-solid backline led by three experienced seniors to lead the team to its best start in more than 20 years.

Lately, though, the brick wall has been porous. After not giving up more than one goal in the team’s first eight matches, SU’s defense has allowed multiple scores twice in the last three games.

To Foti, several of those goals could’ve and should’ve been stopped by his defense, and the game-winner by the Scarlet Knights was no exception. With five minutes remaining in regulation and the game tied at one, Rutgers senior Chris Moore made a long crossing pass from the right wing. Syracuse failed to react quickly enough, and Tomislav Barisic slipped in unnoticed for the Rutgers goal.

Plays like the one Sunday, when the Orange’s defense loses sight of a potential goal scorer, have been most frustrating.

‘Our goal is to shut out every team because if you shut out every team, you only have to score one to win,’ Foti said. ‘We haven’t done that, and the goals we’ve given up were preventable. There’ve been mental mistakes caused by lapses by individuals, lapses collectively. We have to eliminate those and get back to the basics.’

Since starting defender James Goodwin went down with a leg injury on Sept. 21 against Pittsburgh, Syracuse has been unable to find a suitable replacement. Undoubtedly, losing one of the three seniors that has played a major role in the Orange’s recent struggles has had a definite adverse effect on the group.

In the four games Goodwin missed, Foti continually shuffled the lineup, trying to find the cement to close the hole in the defensive wall. On Sunday, freshman Kenny Caceros made his third career start in the middle, and sophomore Brien Chamney opened the match in Goodwin’s usual spot.

Sunday’s incarnation of the starting lineup was the third version used in the losing streak, but Foti still hasn’t found the best combination to stop opposing attacks.

‘If you take someone from a different position and move him into the defense, you have to start finding someone to take his place,’ Foti said. ‘And then you have to find someone not usually in the lineup to take another place, so it causes chain reaction on the whole team.’

The Orange bench did get a little deeper during the weekend with the addition of junior Pete Rowley, who returned from an injury by playing 26 minutes against Rutgers. Rowley, a forward, is another body who could provide a spark the rest of the way. Yet his return won’t directly help the defensive troubles.

Now, Syracuse has to wait until Saturday to get back on the field when Cincinnati visits Syracuse Soccer Stadium. After that, Foti will know if the unusual practice schedule should become the usual.

‘We decided we have to get back to addressing some topics we did in preseason because we needed a refresher,’ Foti said. ‘Individual defending, collective defending, and we’re starting with that. We’ll work our way through other things the rest of the week.’

Published on October 8, 2007 at 12:00 pm