For all the disappointment this season, the Syracuse men’s soccer team still has a reason to take the field. Though Syracuse has been mathematically eliminated from the Big East tournament, the final two games of the season can provide some redemption.

The Orange (2-14, 1-8 Big East) may have ended its postseason hopes with a 2-1 loss to DePaul Saturday, but the chance to play for pride and become the spoiler in the Big East will keep the team motivated heading into its last two games.

‘Win, lose or draw, you play the game because you love it,’ senior co-captain Pete Hill said. ‘And obviously it’s easier to play, and enjoy things, when everything’s going great and you’re putting together winning streaks. But you really do play the game because you love it, and once you quit doing that, it quits being fun.

‘So, I still love playing, I love going out every day and giving it my all. And I know that (my teammates) feel the same way.’

Hill and the rest of the Syracuse soccer team will take that mentality into its last two games, hoping to end a season of turmoil on a positive note. But if this season has shown anything, it is that two wins are anything but a guarantee.

Syracuse has not won back-to-back games at any point during this season, but that is precisely what it can do to close out a disappointing 2009 campaign. The first opportunity to throw a monkey wrench into the Big East standings starts Wednesday night at SU Soccer Stadium, when Syracuse takes on in-state rival St. John’s.

‘It’s just going to take that extra little bit of concentration off the field in preparing, the extra little bit of motivation in warm-ups and on the field,’ Hill said. ‘Just that little bit extra that we all know that we have, that has shown up throughout the season when we put together successful performances.’

The Orange has not made the postseason since 2005, and has only qualified for the Big East tournament three times in the last 10 seasons. With the DePaul loss, that streak continues this year.

‘It does get frustrating when you know that you can be better than what you’re doing,’ Hill said, ‘But at the end of the day, everybody’s still trying their best and still enjoying every minute they have left on the field.’

In what could be a fight to avoid last place, Syracuse will host Cincinnati in the final game of the season Halloween night.

But before that fateful game can take place, Syracuse will have to contend with St. John’s, who has pestered the Orange in recent years. SU has not beaten the Red Storm since 1996 (The teams have tied twice since that season).

But those troubles can become distant memories for the players if Syracuse can overcome its rival, particularly for seniors like Hill. That said, the co-captain felt the last two games must be kept in perspective.

‘The bigger picture is, even if we didn’t have anything to play for, there’s seven seniors and a couple guys who if they don’t come back for their fifth year, these are the last (few) games we have in a Syracuse uniform, no matter how you look at it,’ Hill said. ‘So there’s no extra motivation needed, really. We want to make the most of all the hard work we’ve put into the last four years and it all winds down these last (two) games.’

The possibility of a postseason berth may be gone for the Orange, but these last two Big East games will test the mettle of a team that has fallen on hard times in the 2009 season.

The first of these final two games pits Syracuse against an old nemesis that has historically kept down the Orange. But the players will not let that fact weigh on them too heavily.

‘We have to stay positive,’ senior defenseman Brien Chamney said. ‘We have to take these games very seriously and see what we can do, see if we can win them.’

azmeloa@syr.edu

Published on October 25, 2009 at 12:00 pm