L.J. Papaleo stood for a moment to take in what he had just accomplished. After a brief pause, he ran a few yards to his right and slid to his knees in a brief celebration before readying himself for battle again.

A humble display from a humble player.

‘It feels good just to help the (the Syracuse men’s soccer team),’ Papaleo said with a smile. ‘Scoring is great, but if it was an assist or a pass leading up to a goal, that would have been just as good.’

And help the team he did. Though Syracuse dropped Tuesday night’s match to Hartwick, 2-1, Papaleo provided a much-needed spark to what had been a stagnant Syracuse offense – he had helped the team find an offensive rhythm it hasn’t had all season. And all this against a team that had allowed just four total goals coming into the game.

Syracuse finished the game with nine shots, but most came from quality looks. The Orange tried to capitalize on each of its scoring chances against the Hawks but was only able to find the net once.

But that one goal showcased the flashes of scoring ability that had been there all season. On a free kick from senior defenseman Pete Hill, senior forward Hansen Woodruff, one of the Orange’s captains, headed the ball towards Papaleo, who had set up just off-center of the net. Hartwick defenders were not close enough to affect the shot, and a wide-open Papaleo snapped his head towards the net as the ball came toward him.

Hill’s assist was the second of his career and his first since 2006. The involvement of a defender in a scoring play showed that the Orange can use a variety of weapons to put the ball in the net.

‘All season long we’ve been working on restarts, really concentrating on guys who can finish around the net on free kicks,’ Hill said.

Papaleo, who scored Syracuse’s lone goal of the night, did something few players in the nation have been able to do so far this season: register a goal on Hartwick goalkeeper Jeremy Vuolo, who came into the Tuesday night game ranked fifth in the nation in goals-against-average (0.35).

In 11 games this season, Hartwick had only allowed four goals. Vuolo has posted seven shutouts in those 11 tries.

The 2-1 result Tuesday night showed that the Orange is not quite where it needs to be in order to consistently win games. After Papaleo capitalized on one of Syracuse’s first few scoring chances, the team was able to create several more opportunities for its attackers, just not finish them.

SU senior forward Tom Perevegyencev managed to break deep into Hartwick territory and set up quality scoring chances by the goal. But when the ball left his foot, it could not find the back of the net.

Those scoring chances came from a high-energy Syracuse offense that tried to keep pressure in Hartwick’s zone.

‘We started pushing people up, running up and trying to put a lot of balls into the box and take more shots outside the box,’ Perevegyencev said. ‘Most of our shots came off bounce-backs. Somebody blocked it and one of us took a shot.’

But Perevegyencev said the inability to capitalize during the second half hurt the Orange in the long run.

‘We could never put the ball in goal. That was the problem of the game,’ Perevegyencev said. ‘If we could have put at least one ball in goal, who knows? It could have bounced off someone and gone in.’

Though the Orange were unable to come away with a victory Tuesday night, the quality shots and improved scoring chances are encouraging for a team trying to establish an offensive rhythm.

With only a few games remaining this season, finding that rhythm will be crucial.

‘Each team we play, the coaches are smart, the players are smart,’ Hill said. ‘They can break down a defense to get chances the same way we do against other teams. We know not every game is going to be a zero on the defense, so we’ve got to put goals on our end to win games. And that’s what we’re working on.’

azmeola@syr.edu

Published on October 13, 2009 at 12:00 pm